Anything But Ordinary
by AerisTheStrange
Summary: Yuffie Kisaragi loses contact with her friends and finds herself hoping for a more adventurous life, but after she meets someone unexpectantly, her dream becomes a nightmare. Yuffie then realises that she got more than she bargained for...
1. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1: Reunion**

The early morning rays of light lit the marble room, Renvia, Yuffie's servant, drew back the curtains letting the light escape into Yuffie's room. The light reflected against Yuffie's beautiful face as she lay asleep in her bed, she groaned as the light shone in her eyes. Sitting up straight, she rubbed her eyes furiously, trying to get rid of the sleep in her eyes. Yuffie looked at her servant.

"Good morning, Miss Kisaragi," said Renvia, bowing politely, Yuffie rolled her eyes, she hated having servants in her house but her father suggested it would be a good idea since after all, Yuffie being a typical 19-year-old, she never really tidied her room. Yuffie managed to put on a smile, since Renvia has been good to her and works twice as hard as her everyday. Yuffie had gotten fired from her last job at a pub, not that the money was good enough anyways, she still had a tough time looking for another one. Hopefully someone would need help sooner or later.

"Morning Renvia, thanks for the wake-up call," Yuffie grinned, Renvia smiled, then bowed before exiting the room, Yuffie shifted herself off the bed and went off to the bathroom to get washed. Then after that she could continue looking for a job, she thought she saw some help wanted in the outskirts of Wutai, seeing as she was old enough to go out on her own, travelling to the outskirts didn't seem like such a bad idea. Her father's old complains started ringing in her head. "Yuffie-san, when are you going to go out and find yourself a lovely man to bring back home with you, you're young and talented and very pretty so stop wasting time and go out there girl!" she made a choking sound, her father could be very exasperating at times. So what if she didn't have a boyfriend yet, she's nineteen for god's sake! She's still young as it is! Yuffie quickly finished up washing her self, droplets of water still clinging to her long black eyelashes, she rubbed them away and combed her short black hair, then she put some moisturiser on her face. Thank god she went past the stage of puberty spots. Yuffie exited the bathroom and searched her closet for something to wear, she eventually ended up wearing her blackish outfit, the one she wore when she worked with the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee, Yuffie smiled. She really missed working there, especially learning more about the Heartless, Nobodies and Organisation XIII, those times really set Yuffie working hard to save her new home world after she had moved out of Midgar; especially after Meteor destroyed half the towns, killing thousands of people.

So many lives were at risk when the Heartless emerged in Traverse Town, since she worked with Leon, Aerith, Cid and Geoffrey, she helped protect the refugees that came to Traverse Town because their worlds were taken over by the shadows (Heartless). During those years, fighting hard to protect people really seemed worth it, it wasn't anything ordinary, it was exciting and adventurous. But just as things got worse in Traverse Town, Sora, the keyblade wielder, arrived in Traverse Town. Leon found out that the Heartless have great fear of the Keyblade but it also attracted more to come to Traverse Town. Yuffie smiled broadly to herself, she really missed that kid, Sora, though he wasn't a little kid now, he was a teenager probably sixteen or seventeen, same as Kairi but as for Riku, he'd be about seventeen or eighteen considering he was the oldest in the group along with Wakka. Yuffie exited the house, grabbing a buttered roll from the kitchen telling Renvia that she'll be eating it outside, she walked across the wooden bridge and out the giant gates. The sun shone proudly over Yuffie's head, it was 35 degrees outside and it was a good thing Yuffie chose to wear the black outfit since it had no sleeves. She wandered lonely along the river bay, the Flerras, a flower only grown in Wutai, danced gracefully in the breeze. They lay abundantly across the fresh green grass, Yuffie stopped to admire the Flerras, looking at them reminded her of her mother, how they used to spend their time out walking on a Friday afternoon and every time Yuffie and her mother passed the flowers, Yuffie, being only six years old would say: "Look mama, the Flerras have turned pink this year and not red, how come?" Yuffie's mother, Yin, would laugh and tell her: "Because the great gods of Wutai have changed the time of the month, it is now spring so the Flerras have changed their colour to pink in honour of the third god Vella, but don't worry Yuffie-san, they will change to red again when Summer comes." the six year old Yuffie nodded at this, but still didn't understand up until now. Yuffie stared away from the flowers, tears prickling her eyes, she rushed away from the flowers, wanting to run away from the memories of her mother's death. It was because of _them_!

_Those Turks! They killed thousands of people from Midgar, including my mother who had recently moved there after the invasion! Those bastards! I hate everyone of them! Even though this was 13 years ago, I will never forgive them! _

Yuffie was running so fast that she wasn't thinking or looking where she was going, she found herself stopping in the middle of the city of Wutai right in front of a pub, a Help Wanted list was visible on the window, she went inside and asked the manager about applying for a job. The manager looked at her.

"Mmm, sorry you don't look the part for what we need," he said flatly.

"What do you mean "The part for what we need"?" Yuffie asked, her voice becoming stern.

"Well, we're looking for a waitress that's willing on being a bit…revealing," said the Manager, smirking at Yuffie's shocked look.

"Revealing? What kinda pub do you run here?" Yuffie asked him, outraged about what he said.

The Manager pointed at the rusty sign hanging above his head on the ceiling, it read:

**The Strip Pub open from 9:00-12:30 People under eighteen not allowed.**

Yuffie flushed deep red, she turned to the manager.

"I-I didn't see…oh god did you think I was going to apply to be a revealing waitress?" Yuffie asked him appallingly. The manager nodded.

"Even if you were interested I still wouldn't recommend taking this job, you should try somewhere else, have a good day," said the Manager turning his back on Yuffie and dealing with a customer. Yuffie didn't wait there long, she bolted right out of the pub just in case some of the men in there thought she was the new waitress, oh if she had been accepted! What would her father think of her? Yuffie closed the door behind her and went far away from the pub, she hadn't known that they would have something like that in the city of Wutai. Two and a half hours wasted and she still hadn't found any jobs that would accept her that day, Yuffie looked at her watch, 12:30, she sighed irritably.

"Maybe I should travel to Midgar, they might have more jobs than this shit of a place!" Yuffie mumbled angrily, casting an angry look at the pub, which was still visible even a mile away. She took out the roll and ate it gratefully, Renvia was too good to her, making her breakfast in the morning was just too much for Yuffie but it didn't seem to bother Renvia that much. Her and Yuffie grew like sisters over the past eleven years of looking after Yuffie. Renvia had taken the job as a servant when she was sixteen and Yuffie was eight, after those years everything seemed fine. Yuffie stopped at the train station, the train from Wutai to Midgar was leaving in five minutes, Yuffie quickly paid for her ticket and went on the train. An hour went by and she was safely in Midgar at half one, she tossed the tin foil from her roll into the bin, then headed for Sector 8 to see if anyone wanted help there. There was one feeling that kept her from going to Sector 8, wasn't that a bad place? Maybe it had changed after those years, she had heard news that they were rebuilding some parts of Midgar, would Sector 8 be one of them, she thought it over and decided she would chance it. Yuffie walked nervously through Midgar, as she reached Sector 8, she stopped hesitantly. Then carried on walking, despite some shifty looking strangers covered in dark brown heavy jackets, keeping a close eye on her. She ignored the shady looks they gave her and continued walking forwards, as she walked halfway through the dark alley of Sector 8, she saw the town, to her disappointment; the town was still the same. Plucking up the courage, she looked around at the shops. Nothing much was there, she sighed and walked on further into the outer part of Sector 8. This time, Yuffie was surprised, the town here had changed dramatically. More shops had come in and it seemed less impoverished than the part of Sector 8 she had past, Yuffie, smiling to herself, started to check the shops to see if help was wanted. Four shops didn't recommend Yuffie and she became more desperate than before.

"O for god's sake! Where can I find a friggin job in this feckin place?" she cursed under her breath, she then spotted a pub not far from her, sensing hope, she walked towards the pub and stepped inside, feeling a bit shy and stupid. The pub didn't seem at all that bad, a bit dusty but not like that dump of a place back in Wutai. The bartender was dealing with some pissed customer, obviously refusing to accept whatever the offer was that the drunken customer had asked for. She sent him out of the pub, pushing him towards the exit. After that, she went back to the counter and spotted Yuffie standing shyly near the door. She smiled.

"Hello there sweetie, and what can I do for you?" she asked her kindly, Yuffie crept up feeling small and looked at the bartender.

"Er…can I speak to the manager please?" Yuffie asked her, the bartender blinked and laughed. It wasn't in a rude way, but a sort of high, cheerful laugh that made you want to smile.

"You're looking at her," she said pointing at herself. Yuffie raised her eyebrows.

"Oh! I'm sorry I didn't know, I…well, I was just wondering, if-well…is there any help needed?" Yuffie asked her calmly, but inside she felt scared and hoped that this one person would give her the job. The bartender smiled and got out some forms.

"I was hoping when someone would ask, it's hell working in a pub on your own, ever since my divorce with my husband, things have turned upside down. He used to take care of the fights that broke out, and now I have to deal with it, but I suppose there is an advantage to it, I've built up my strength from all that!" she said flexing her muscles, she placed the forms in front of Yuffie, Yuffie smiled broadly, hardly able to believe her luck; even if it was in Sector 8. She passed Yuffie her blue gel pen.

"Now, sign here please and I'll accept you and we'll get cracking!" she said cheerfully, after Yuffie had finished filling in the form, the bartender looked at her grades in her junior cert.

"You're a very bright girl I see from your junior cert results, it's a good thing you came along today, I'm Natasha and it's a pleasure to have you working in…er…my pub!" she said hastily, Yuffie looked at her.

"Have you a name for this pub?" she asked her curiously. Natasha looked at her.

"Sadly no, my ex was going to name it after the battleship he fought in during the war, but it never happened, this was a week before our divorce," she said, her voice wobbling a bit. Yuffie looked at her pityingly.

"We could call it "The Red Serpent,"" said Yuffie confidently. Natasha finished putting away the shining clear glasses in the cupboard and turned to Yuffie.

"Put that name on hold, it just might be a good idea, we'll leave it as the Local pub of Sector 8 for now, but when the time comes, we'll use that name mkay?" she said, retreating into the kitchen behind the counter. Yuffie stayed where she was, not really sure what to do. Natasha returned a few minutes later, with a dirty tea towel.

"Sorry, about leaving you here, I was just changing the water in the tank, god it's awful messy that damn tank," she said folding over the tea towel. "Now, ok, so you're the waitress yes?" Natasha added putting the brown towel on the counter.

"Yup," Yuffie answered, getting ready to work.

"Well, I have a no uniform policy so feel free to wear whatever you like then, that's the first rule. Secondly, no stealing but you obviously wouldn't. Thirdly, I don't want you quarrelling with the customers if they're drunk, but you may get tougher with the situation when necessary. Fourthly, no taking breaks when it's not time to take one. Fifthly, don't leave during working hours and sixthly, let's get back to work! Oh and one thing I should warn you about, careful with the suspicious people; I had a few disturbing encounters with them, so watch out in case they might get a chance to grope ya in unpleasant areas!" she whispered, putting on a heavy cardigan over her large front, and placing the apron over it. She smiled as Yuffie watched her confusingly. "Just for extra protection," she told Yuffie, Yuffie nodded and watched Natasha deal with a customer. Yuffie wasn't expected to do much on her first day, so Natasha let her take her breaks earlier. The working hours was from 8:00am-12:30pm and the wages were 830 gil. At twenty-five minutes past eight, Natasha turned to Yuffie.

"Well, that's it for you for today, tomorrow you'll work the normal hours ok?" she said, giving Yuffie her payment for the day.

"But I haven't worked the full hours!" said Yuffie, trying to give the money back to Natasha, she raised her hands in astonishment.

"Oh no, no, take it, it's just something for being a huge help! I'll take it from here on, you go home and rest up for tomorrow then, I'll see you bright and early!" she bid Yuffie goodbye and went back to her duties. Yuffie exited the pub and started thinking about travelling back here from Wutai again, she then decided it would be too frustrating, getting up even earlier and getting the train to go back to Sector 8 and travel even further down to the outer part. Yuffie thought hard, and suddenly remembered that Cloud lived in Midgar now! At least she hoped he did, she knew where his house was so she could just go and have a peek to see if he's there. Couldn't she? Yuffie took the path from the left of the pub and started walking towards the way out of Sector 8 and into Sector 7, from there she could find the estate he lives in and see if the house is still there and if Cloud's there too. Yuffie reached Sector 7 and strolled anxiously into the estate, she looked around wildly, desperate to find his house. To her relief, it was there, beside an old abandoned cottage house that no one would ever want to live in. The lights were on, but she stopped halfway towards the front door. What if Cloud had moved and someone else was living here? She chanced it and knocked on the door, she heard voices and then the door handle clicked. Yuffie held her breath and was relieved when she saw the familiar spiky blonde headed man she worked with in AVALANCHE, Cloud was surprised to see Yuffie.

"Yuffie! When did you get here? I haven't seen you since that last battle in Midgar, how have you been?" said Cloud, smiling happily. Yuffie never saw him so cheerful before and couldn't help smiling.

"I'm fine, but I have a job here now!" she announced proudly after Sora had jokily picked on her about losing her last job two years ago. She felt a pang in her heart, she really missed Sora and his naïve attitude. She heard more voices from upstairs and then huge laughter bursting through the house, Cloud rolled his eyes.

"Don't worry it's just the lunatics creating mess up there, or at least I think they are," said Cloud. Yuffie looked surprised, she hadn't known Cloud has children! Or does he?

"Who?" she blurted out suddenly. Cloud smiled and invited her in.

"You'll see, I was surprised to see them anyways," said Cloud, going up the stairs Yuffie followed him, curious about the noise upstairs. Cloud entered the room where the noise was situated, Yuffie entered it as well and was shocked to see Sora, Riku, Kairi, Violet, Aurora, Geoffrey, Tifa, Cid, Red XIII, Roxas, Naminé, Hayner, Pence, Olette, Barrett, Marlene, Denzel, Snowdrop, Violet, Elaine, Grace, Aerith, Yuna, Rikku, Paine, Merlin, Leon, Tidus, Wakka, Selphie, Stefie, Isabelle, Siera, Rebecca, Jason, Ducan, Niall, Crystal, Rhianne, Zack, Vincent, Donald and Goofy. Yuffie stepped inside the crowded room, Sora smiled enthusiastically.

"We are united!" Sora sang idiotically, causing everyone to start laughing. Yuffie smiled at Sora. Everyone greeted her warmly, Yuffie felt like crying with happiness.

"It's so good to see you all again!" said Yuffie, she hugged Sora and Kairi, then started hugging everyone in the room. Sora started to try and catch Red XIII's tail. Red XIII growled and shot off behind a flower pot, what Sora didn't realise is that Red's tail has flames and Sora's glove had caught fire by trying to catch his tail. Sora didn't notice and combed back his hair with the fiery hand, he set his hair on fire and Barrett noticed straight away.

"Hey Sora your hair is on fire!" Barrett shouted, getting the flower pot and tipping it down Sora's head. Sora shouted and fell over, with water running down his cheek. Kairi laughed and helped Sora up, giving him a kiss on the cheek. Yuffie grinned at Kairi.

"Ooh, you're boyfriend and girlfriend now I see!" said Yuffie happily, Sora got up from the floor.

"You have a boyfriend, do you Yuff?" Sora asked her, raising one eyebrow and looking at Yuffie with dreamy eyes.

"Wha? No, no I don't, but my father is always nagging me to go and bring back a husband and grandchildren, stupid old geezer, I'm only nineteen and it's MY decision if want one or not!" said Yuffie sounding annoyed, Kairi looked at Yuffie shockingly.

"And do you want a boyfriend?" Kairi asked her, hanging onto Sora's arm.

"Well…yeah, I wouldn't mind, but I haven't anyone in mind. I don't think I'll ever find love!" said Yuffie. Kairi put her hand on her shoulder and smiled sympathetically.

"You will Yuffie, I'm sure you'll meet you're dream guy just right around the corner of life!" said Kairi, Yuffie beamed.

"I might meet someone at work, maybe," said Yuffie hopefully, Sora looked at Cloud, Donald and Goofy.

"What do you think they're on about?" Sora asked Goofy, Goofy scratched his head confusingly.

"Garsh Sora, I dunno," Goofy replied lamely. Donald stood up on a stool and whispered to Sora:

"What do you suppose they mean "The corner of life"?" Donald asked him.

"I think they mean the corner of a house," Sora answered back naively.

"It's just a figure of speech," said Cloud, he looked at his girlfriend, Aerith and smiled at her, he had been with Aerith for a year and a half now. Cloud walked over to Aerith and whispered something in her ear, she nodded and they both exited the room. Sora looked at them leave and twisted in Riku's direction.

"Where do you think they're going, Riku?" Sora asked Riku who was flirting with Sora's sister, Violet.

"Cloud and Aerith are going on a date today, remember?" said Riku, turning away from Violet, who started talking to Tifa and Rhianne.

"Oh ya, they'll probably get up to no good after we leave eh Riku?" said Sora mischievously.

"Ah Sora, you have a dirty mind!" said Riku, shoving Sora away from him jokingly.

Yuffie went over to Rhianne, Violet and Tifa and started talking to them. She told them about her job and how she wanted to stay somewhere in Midgar to avoid going from Wutai to Midgar. Rhianne suddenly had an idea.

"There's a little house not far from here, it's close to Sector 8 and it's dirt cheap since no one's bought it for 14 years, the cost of the house is 1,000 munny, nothing in Sector 7 is dear now anyways, only the posh places but you're not going to live there," said Rhianne, Yuffie hugged her delighted with the idea.

"I'm so glad I can afford it, I can pay it by cheque and then pay the bank back for the munny I've used, oh Rhianne thanks for telling me!" Yuffie alleged, hugging Rhianne tightly, she looked and her, Tifa and Violet. "I'm so glad I got to see you guys again, could we keep in touch more often now and let me know if anything happens in Hollow Bastion or Traverse Town ok?" said Yuffie.

"Sure, we will Yuffie!" said Violet going over to Riku and chatting non-stop to him.

"We'll give you the contact number to the agent if you like?" Tifa said, handing the agent's number to Yuffie.

"Ok, so will I ring now?" Yuffie asked them, they nodded.

"Just ask that you're interested in buying the house today, and tell him you'll send the cheque, easy as that!" said Tifa, handing Yuffie the cordless phone.

"Just like that, he won't come down to discuss paper issues and stuff like that, you know, the mortgage!" said Yuffie not believing what she's hearing.

"He'll come with the paper work tomorrow, today you'll need a place to stay and get comfortable, right? So forget the paperwork and he'll just come with the keys to the house and you'll give him the cheque for 1,000 munny, that's it!" Tifa explained carefully.

After the phone call, Yuffie left the house saying goodbye to her old friends, she headed off towards the new house she was going to stay in, the agent said he'd come there. When Yuffie arrived, the agent had just come. He handed Yuffie the keys and took the cheque, he then explained that he would be coming tomorrow with the paperwork at around twelve and with that, he left without another word. Yuffie unlocked the door to her new home, she entered the house and looked around. Thank goodness there wasn't any insects or rats crawling around, the must have had the place fully protected against the rodents and insects. She opened the door to her bedroom and lay on the pink sheets, wrapping them around her comfortably. She got out her mobile from her pocket and text Renvia, telling her about everything. When Yuffie had finished sending the message, she checked her watch. 12:00, Yuffie rubbed her eyes tiredly, settled her handbag down on the ground and slept in the bed with her clothes on since she hadn't any pyjamas with her, she told Renvia to send them tomorrow if she didn't mind. The day had past so fast, they job, meeting her old friends, just like her dream come true. Her next dream was to meet someone she would love forever, someone that would love her for who _she _was, not because she was Yuffie Kisaragi, the hero of AVALANCHE and a member of the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee. She also wished her life was anything but ordinary, going back to those adventurous days would be good enough for Yuffie, who was now fast asleep, her black hair laid out around the pillow as she drifted off to sleep in her dreamland.

**Ok, I know there might be some spelling mistakes but I'm not really bothered on checking them right now ^^; Hope you enjoyed Chapter 1. R&R please :3**


	2. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2: An unexpected encounter**

Yuffie woke up at 7:00, with a draft at the back of her neck, she looked at the time and got up to go to the bathroom. She plucked at her black hair, it was messed up after her good night sleep. Maybe it wasn't exactly good, she had woken up with a draft and it hurt a lot. She brushed her teeth and combed her hair, she then went downstairs and exited the house without eating because she hadn't anything in the house, obviously. She bought a sandwich at one of the shops and ate it while she walked to the pub, she met Natasha waiting at the front door, she waved happily.

"Good morning Yuffie, I see you're up early," she said, Yuffie smiled tiredly and followed Natasha into the pub. It was half seven and the pub wouldn't open till another half an hour. Natasha took off her heavy burgundy jacket and placed it on the coat rack, she started off by cleaning the tables, spraying them with Cif, Yuffie grabbed a cleaning agent and started scrubbing down the counter; making it shiny and clean. This had taken twenty minutes to do, they had only ten minutes left till they open the pub. Yuffie thought about the man in the estate agent, how he was coming around to the house at twelve to deal with the paperwork. At least they had a break from twelve to one, she could then slip out of the pub and deal with the agent. 8:00, a lot of customers came in that day, Yuffie smiled happily at the job she had as she passed the drinks out to the customers, at least during the day people weren't as keen on getting drunk as in the night time, hopefully there wouldn't be any fights tonight. Natasha had to deal with a few fights after Yuffie had left yesterday, Yuffie still felt guilty about it even though Natasha said it was fine. Twelve o'clock came fast that day, Yuffie explained to Natasha that she had to get out five minutes earlier not to miss the agent, Natasha understood and let her out five minutes before twelve. Yuffie rushed out, the wind blowing her hair around wildly, strands being separated from each other as the cruel wind forced them to stay apart, the delightful sun shone brightly, but the wind continued to blow hard; Yuffie arrived on time, she stopped at the front porch of her house, she panted and tried to catch her breath. The agent arrived ten minutes later than she had expected.

_So much for getting off five minutes earlier. Weren't these bastards suppose to be more significant about being on time?_

Yuffie managed to put on a smile, despite the fact that she rushed all the way down from the pub and to her house to find that he had come ten minutes later than twelve o'clock, she even caught her breath faster than when he decided to show up. He waved rigidly at Yuffie, his face utterly deadpan, he lifted the suitcase out from the boot of his car and Yuffie invited him in the house. The paperwork took about twenty minutes, but it felt like an _hour_ to Yuffie, she blew out with relief as he left. She looked at the wooden clock hanging on the beige wall in the kitchen, it was twenty to one. Yuffie quickly shoved the keys in her pocket and dashed out the door, locking the door as she headed for the pub again, Yuffie crossed a path clustered with graceful pansies. She glanced at them and wasn't watching where she was going, she collided into a man wearing a blue suit, she fell backwards and hit her bum off the pavement, she cursed quietly, but not quietly enough, the man in blue heard her.

"Oooh, I didn't think a girl like you Yuffie would become naughty and start using bad language," the man said cheekily, Yuffie recognised the voice, it was Reno, a Turk.

"So what Reno? You don't own me so I can say or do whatever I like!" said Yuffie sharply, shaking with anger. She hated seeing his stupid smug face, they way he grinned made her want to slap him hard across the face.

"There's no need to get shirty with me," he answered, taking a swig from his can of lager.

"I don't give a damn! You just stay away from me! And leave me alone!" she exclaimed, rushing away from him, tears draining from her eyes, they ran quickly down her cheeks like a waterfall. She didn't hear any footsteps, he wasn't chasing her thank goodness, if he had been, she would have died if she had to see his face again. Yuffie reached the pub at five to one, she entered the pub and burst into fresh tears. Natasha had obviously gone out to get her lunch, she gave the keys to Yuffie just in case she didn't come back early, Yuffie sat crouched behind the counter and cried for the last five minutes. She hated the Turks, it was stupid to blame Reno for her mother's death since at that time he wasn't a member, but she blamed him for being apart of the group that caused her mother's death to happen. It was obvious she had made a fool out of herself in front of him, telling him to stay away from her when she was the one that ran into him in the first place. Yuffie punched herself in the stomach, but it was a slight punch so she didn't do any harm to herself, she hated herself for taking that different route all because she was in a rush to get back to the pub after that dreary paperwork. It was one o'clock and Yuffie emerged from behind the counter, she went to open the pub after she had bathed her poor red swollen eyes from all that crying. Yuffie took several customer's orders when Natasha had finally arrived back a few minutes later, with a carrier bag stuffed full of food. She placed them in the kitchen and told Yuffie:

"I knew that you wouldn't have any food in your new house for a while so I bought a few stuff for you to bring home…" said Natasha forking out the food that had been stuffed in the bag, "Ok maybe more than a few," she added as she seen the look on Yuffie's face.

"Oh Natasha I could have bought the food today from the market, you didn't have to, thanks very much anyways you're a darling!" she said fondly, hugging Natasha tightly, Natasha smiled freely and went back to work, likewise Yuffie.

Night grew nearer and it attracted a lot of students and yobbos, including a few shifty looking vagrants with packets of crushed fags. One already fully intoxicated man leaned over to Yuffie and charmed her irrationally, at one point, he had tried to grope her but Yuffie backed off hurriedly. There had been other several groping attempts at nine o'clock when more students had arrived after a long day, one which had already managed to touch Yuffie's bottom while Natasha had to deal with an over intoxicated yob who had then started a fight with another student. Yuffie and Natasha calmly tried to sort the situation out but the yob tried to attack Yuffie. Yuffie dodged the yob's attack and grabbed him by the arm, digging her nails into the sensitive area where it meets the shoulders, she twisted his other arm and brought him to the ground. The drunken yob was amazed that a small nineteen year old woman had managed the knock him to the ground, he struggled to get free from her grasp, when he did he tried to punch Yuffie in the face, he managed to hit her left ear, causing it to glow red with the pain. She then hit him hard across the head, knocking him out, he fell to the ground unconscious.

Natasha accompanied Yuffie after the yob had been knocked out, she gave her the thumbs up and cast several anxious looks at the drunken teenagers in the far corner.

At Twelve o'clock, the pub grew quieter, Natasha glanced at her watch.

"We'll serve a few more people and then shut the pub for tonight, ok?" said Natasha, taking a customer's order. Yuffie nodded obediently and passed a few lagers and vodka down to several customers.

After the last few customers had left, Natasha packed her bag and headed for the door, she stopped with the door half open. "Are you coming?" she asked Yuffie.

"No, I think I'll hang around for a while and tidy the pub up a bit," Yuffie responded, washing out a glass that had beer in it, Natasha still stood at the door.

"Are you sure? 'Cos I could stay with you if you like?" she asked Yuffie again.

"No, no, you go home and rest up, you deserve it. I'll see you tomorrow ok?" Yuffie replied placing several tall glasses back under the counter.

"Oh…er…ok then," said Natasha, and she left the silent pub. It felt spooky and lonesome with the pub empty, Yuffie pulled out a book from her handbag and decided to forget about the eerie atmosphere in the empty pub. The book was a useless distraction, Yuffie put down the book and decided to tidy the tables and chairs, Yuffie then heard the door open.

"Natasha, I'm fine on my own, you can go home," said Yuffie, sounding a bit irritated.

"Natasha? Nah I aint that big bust blubber woman you call your manager."

Yuffie froze, she held her breath and shut her eyes, it was none other than the arrogant bastard himself, Reno.

"The pub's closed," Yuffie retorted, Reno chuckled.

"Is that the way you treat all your paying customers," he said insolently, examining a portrait of _Aphrodite _by Leonardo de Vinci.

"All right then, what do you want?" Yuffie asked, feeling fed up. She put her hands on her hips and turned to Reno, who was still peering at the portrait of Aphrodite.

"Just Whiskey then babe," said Reno, perching himself on a stool.

"Don't call me "babe"," said Yuffie, calmly fixing his drink and placing it in front of him.

"Fine then, Yuffie, better now?"

"As I'll ever be." Yuffie answered with her back turned to him now, she pretended to be cleaning dust off the taps, not wanting to see his face.

"So what brings you to Midgar?" Reno asked her, sipping whiskey.

"I was looking for a job and now I live here, you?" she asked him as if they were having an ordinary conversation as well known friends.

"I'm just taking an unpaid vacation with Elena and Rude," Reno replied, drinking the rest of his whiskey in one go.

"You mean you quit the Turks?" Yuffie asked expectedly.

"Yeah, it got way too messy in the end, Tseng's brother got killed in the explosion during our attempt to blow up the Forbidden City, there were so many lives at risk and my family got caught in the unfortunate fate, that's what really caused me to have second thoughts about the Turks. It wasn't worth it, all we did was stir up trouble and lead others to their doom. So after Meteor destroyed half of the towns in Midgar, me, Rude, Elena, Tseng and a couple of other Turk members who were willing on high tailing it outta there retreated to Sector 8, one of the places that wasn't affected by the destruction. And here I am," said Reno sadly.

"Oh, I didn't know, hey Reno…sorry about what I did this morning," Yuffie apologised pityingly.

"I was just about to ask you about that, what was that all about then?" he asked her.

"I was thinking about the time my mother died, and it was all because of the Turks," Yuffie told him, trying to stop herself from crying.

"You serious? Look, sorry about-"

"It wasn't your fault! I know I shouldn't have blamed you but I was such a bitch to take it out on you! This was when I was about six years old! I'm sorry for being such a bitch!" Yuffie cried, she collapsed in Reno's arms, crying on his chest. She felt the warmth of his body comfort her, his hand around her waist, holding her close to him. Up until now, she hadn't noticed how strange she felt around him, as if they had secret feelings for each other, hiding stubbornly inside their heads. From then on, Reno stopped being an alcoholic arrogant ex-Turk, but started being a caring young man, holding a helpless Ninja girl in his arms, he stroked her black hair comfortingly.

"Shhh, you'll be okay Yuff, here," said Reno comfortably giving her a tissue to dry her tears with. She thanked him and wiped the tears away from her eyes.

After a few minutes, Yuffie settled down, she came back from the bathroom after washing her eyes with water again. She turned to Reno.

"Sorry about that dramatic event," she said feeling idiotic.

"Never mind, well, are you doing anything tomorrow?" he asked her uncertainly.

"Well, I work in the pub till eight on Saturdays, why?" she asked him suspiciously.

"Er…because I was wondering if you wanted to go out on a date or something tomorrow at eight, if you wanted to," he said, scratching the back of his head.

"Ok, that'll be great," said Yuffie shyly, she looked at the time, "oh god, it's half twelve, we'd better get going or we'll fall asleep in the pub!" she got up and headed for the front door.

"You're not walking alone are you?" Reno asked her.

"Yeah I am," she responded taking out the keys to lock up the pub, she held the door open, gesturing for him to leave.

"How about I walk you home?" he asked her. Yuffie raised her eyebrows, amazed by his offer.

"So you can get up to no good with me?" she said teasingly.

"Now why would I do that?" he replied, grinning.

"Oh, I was just checking, but I warn you that I have peppermint spray in my handbag if you try to do anything against my will!" she threatened.

"Ah, my plan has been foiled!" said Reno jokingly, drawing giggles from Yuffie. Pretending to be a gentleman, he let Yuffie out the door first, after he had exited after Yuffie, she locked the door and they walked away from the pub. Yuffie and Reno were both silent on their way to Yuffie's house, Yuffie walked uncomfortably alongside Reno, she started getting weird thoughts in her head like kissing Reno or something way more physical than kissing. She shook the thoughts out of her head, but then flushed red as she thought of it again. Reno looked at her, and wondered why she was shaking her head.

"You okay?" he asked her confusingly. Yuffie jumped violently at the sound of his voice, she nodded.

They reached her house in less than ten minutes, Yuffie thanked Reno for walking her home and found herself giving him a kiss on the cheek, it was only a brief kiss, nothing more. As Yuffie entered her house, she found a package stuffed in the big mailbox, Yuffie knew immediately that it was from Renvia, she opened the parcel and took out her teddy bear night gown which was above her knee. She peered at herself in the mirror.

_Maybe you should get something more sexier than a teddy bear night gown. Just a little something to tease Reno with if you get into anything romantic than just a kiss on the lips. _

Yuffie shook her head again, where did that come out from? She thought to herself. She ignored her perverted thoughts and lay in her bed, draping the sheets around her body, she placed her head on the pillow and closed her eyes. Then her perverted mind butted in her sleep.

_Just imagine Reno in bed with you, wouldn't that be lovely or what? _

"Shut _up _brain!" Yuffie mumbled hotly. But her perverted brain carried on:

_You should get a breast enhancement, I know you're boobs are kinda big but he'd probably like to grope them more if they were a bit bigger._

"More like a _brain_ enhancement!" argued Yuffie with her perverted brain.

_I wonder if you might get a chance to see what he looks like in the nude!_

"Be quiet you stupid brain, I'm making sure you get those perverted thoughts out of your head! Now let me sleep and shut your yap!" Yuffie shouted, covering her head with a pillow, trying to block the thoughts out of her head.

_You'll never get rid of me Yuffie Kisaragi! I am your brain! BWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! _

Yuffie groaned and let her perverted brain carry on and on, she eventually fell asleep after a brief conversation in her head about getting a brain enhancement.

***********************************************************************************************

On Saturday the pub wasn't very crowded, this meant that Natasha and Yuffie didn't have to deal with many fights, or as they hoped. At least the pub closed earlier on Saturday, but that wasn't why Yuffie had a big smile stretched across her face, no it was because she had a date with a former Turk at eight o'clock, Yuffie had packed some new clothes in her bag to change before her date with Reno. Natasha watched Yuffie disappear into the kitchen at 7:30, she laughed cheerily.

"What are you doing in the kitchen Yuffie?" Natasha inquired as she heard ruffles in the kitchen.

"Just changing that's all!" Yuffie answered, banging her hip against the wall as she struggled to get her new pair of clothes on.

After five minutes, Yuffie returned looking very pretty in a black top, with a black mini skirt and fish-net tights. She had combed her hair and applied a sliver Flerras clip to her black liquorice hair. Natasha looked surprised.

"Violla! Changed and ready!" Yuffie announced, striking a pose jokingly.

Natasha laughed and applauded, taking part in the joke.

"Lovely! You look so pretty in that outfit! Not to mention a body language as well, mind you, I wasn't big like this before I had children of my own, after that I've put on a drastic amount of weight!" said Natasha, plucking at her apron.

"But you look so cuddly, and you treat me like your own daughter! I'm so glad I got this job, you're like a mother to me, since my actual mother died when I was six years old," said Yuffie mournfully.

"Aww, sweetie, I hadn't known, well just to let you know, I'll look out for you no matter what! Now, let's get back to dealing with the few people we have left before closing up," said Natasha, and she went back to work as usual.

The pub was empty when eight o'clock had arrived, Yuffie cleared up the place, and glanced at the door nervously. Natasha spotted the anxious look on her face.

"Is everything ok dear?" she asked Yuffie, grabbing her pink cardigan and putting it on.

"Oh, I was just looking out the door, waiting for my date," said Yuffie serenely, but her heart was thumping fast underneath her black shirt.

"You have a date? With whom? You didn't tell me you met someone? C'mon don't be shy, who is he?" Natasha asked, winking at Yuffie and teasing her.

"Well, he's just a guy I met yesterday, I've known him before and I thought of him differently. But now he's like a different guy, much more sympathetic than before, he's changed now," said Yuffie, going into a day dream, not taking any notice of what she said.

"What's his name?" Natasha asked eagerly.

"Reno," Yuffie answered firmly.

"That man from the Turks? You say he's changed?" said Natasha worriedly.

"Yes, I know the saying "a leopard can't change it's spots" but it's different with Reno, I know it is," said Yuffie persistently.

"Oh, ok, if you say so, I'll be leaving now so you can wait here till he comes. I don't want to be in the way of things, you have fun now Yuffie! See you on Monday!" and Natasha left the deserted pub once more. Yuffie blew out with relief, at least she didn't react in an aggressive manner. She wondered what her father would say if he knew she was going out with an ex-Turk! At that precise moment, Reno entered the pub, startling Yuffie.

"Oh, Reno you came! For a second I thought you were messing about the date thing, nice shirt by the way!" said Yuffie excitedly.

"What this? Elena nagged me to put it on, but I managed to slip through putting on the tie, I like the unbuttoned shirt way better!" he answered, checking the shirt.

"Basically, you hate the geek look don't ya?" said Yuffie bursting out laughing.

"Precisely, speaking of clothes, love the outfit Yuff," said Reno, admiring Yuffie's sense of style.

"What this?" she said, mimicking what he had said.

"Yeah, _that_, it outlines your sexy curves," said Reno, smirking.

"Flatterer, well shall we go?" Yuffie asked, ignoring her brain's comments.

"Sure," he responded, taking hold of Yuffie's hand as they exited the pub while Yuffie locked it up.

The moon's light exposed behind the grey clouds, the night was dark and peaceful within the company of Reno, they stopped at a wooden bridge, the place where they had collided into each other yesterday. Yuffie watched the ripples in the water as the fishes swam around playfully, the moon's reflection was exposed on the water, making it a beautiful scene as the elegant flowers that grew along the bay were visible in the moonlight. Reno placed his arm around her shoulder, he held her close to him.

"You're so little Yuffie, but you're way mature than before," he told her calmly.

Yuffie cuddled up close to him, she felt little and cute, her hair blew slightly in the calm wind, Reno played with a bit of her hair, twisting it around his finger. Yuffie nestled into his arms, feeling secure, despite her brain being perverted again. They stood there, watching the lovely scenery of the moon's light reflecting the surrounding area. Reno then broke the silence.

"How about we go see the lights? I know a place in Sector 7 where they have them up all year round, you're gonna love it, I went there with Rude and Elena just for the fun of it." he said, taking hold of Yuffie's arm and heading down the bridge and across the moist grass. As they got near the place, Reno told Yuffie to close her eyes as they were about to enter the place, after a few moments Reno told her to open her eyes again. Yuffie slowly opened her eyes, not believing it was reality, she got a shock. There were numerous numbers of beautiful lights surrounding the area, different varieties of lights shone brightly on the buildings. Yuffie smiled at the multicolour scenery, she hugged Reno appreciatively.

"Oh Reno, it's beautiful!" she said enthusiastically.

"I knew you'd love it," he replied, smiling at Yuffie's appreciative manner. She observed the falling waterfall like fountain on the right, she giggled gratefully.

"It's so lovely, thanks for taking me here Reno," said Yuffie, her beautiful brown eyes shining in the light filled area. Reno looked at her, he stroked her head. Yuffie turned to Reno, suddenly, their lips met into a passionate kiss. Yuffie hung onto Reno to prevent herself from falling backwards with the sudden move. She seemed overwhelmed by his sudden movement, she wrapped her arms around his neck, deepening the taste-filled kiss, forgetting all about the romantic scenery and the lights. It was just Yuffie and Reno, no one else, Reno's hands were tangled in Yuffie's black hair. Yuffie loved the feeling of his fingers resting against her skull, it was kind of strange, having these locked away feelings for him for so many years. Did she love him before? I suppose it was just a harmless crush before, but she had hated him for the things the Turks caused, but now it had all changed. He had left the Turks and was now trustworthy, she just knew it. He wasn't an ungrateful bastard like the other boys Yuffie met before Reno, at least this was her first kiss, her first kiss with her one and only true love.

_O god I can't believe I'm thinking like this when this is our first date! Maybe our last as well. _

What was she talking about? She had already told herself Reno was the one she wanted, and he was reliable as well, how could she have said that? The savouring kiss was broken after five minutes, they both looked at each other, breathless. Yuffie smiled softly.

"You're quite the charmer aren't you?" she said playfully, Reno grinned as he caught his breath.

"You just be glad I didn't ask you for sex on our first date like any other ungrateful bastard would, you had any guys like that before me?" he asked, fixing his collar.

"Yeah, loads, and on our first date they would ask me to have sex with them, dirty bastards they were, and all five of them were from Wutai! Exactly where my dad wanted my boyfriends to be from, but I hate the men from Wutai, all they do is treat us women like meat," said Yuffie frustratingly, fixing her hair, combing bits with her fingers, Reno also helped.

"And you're father's like that?" he asked getting at her, Yuffie blinked and laughed.

"No, no, o god why did I say all men in Wutai were like that? I meant some," said Yuffie hastily, Reno chuckled and brought Yuffie closer to him, his face almost touching hers.

"That's because you went with the wrong guys, babe," he said, kissing Yuffie's cheek.

"How many more times do I have to tell you, don't call me "babe", and I know I did, you think you're better?" she asked Reno jokingly, tugging his ponytail softly.

"I could be, depends on what mood I'm in," he said suspiciously, Yuffie poked him in the stomach.

"Pervert! You know you're better than that, you'd never rush me into sex that fast would you?"

"Never, not until we truly love each other, besides it's our first date, no playing around this time, sadly." Reno responded, teasing Yuffie. Yuffie shoved him briefly, but laughed to show that she was only joking around.

"Take it easy there cowboy, no riding this horse till she's ready," Yuffie joked, laughing at what she had just said, tears of laughter filled her eyes.

"Yee haw!" he whispered in her ear, Yuffie giggled, he was such the joker at times.

He brought her home at twelve, she thanked him gratefully and gave him one last wondrous kiss before entering her cosy home, Reno watched her leave his side and she stopped as her door was half open, she turned to Reno.

"Goodnight, Reno Babeno!" she said, starting another joke. Reno's mouth hung partially open, he let out a gasp.

"Reno Babeno? What the hell's that Yuff? You get your ass back here and say it to my face," he responded, jokingly putting on a false anger. Yuffie knew and crept back down to him, she put her hands on his shoulder, she dug her fingernails in his jacket, her face was an inch away from his and she whispered in a lively sneaky voice:"Goodnight, Reno Babeno," she repeated, kissing his cheek.

"G'night, Yuffie Wuttie," he said, Yuffie giggled and went inside, giving Reno on last wave goodnight. As she left him standing outside, staring into space, he thought of Yuffie, of what she did. She didn't act like the old Yuffie when she had done that, she looked womanly and lush, like she had unzipped her Yuffie Kisagari suit and stepped out as this new woman, but besides that small event, Yuffie was still herself in personality, even if she had matured greatly. Her soft touch, and luscious voice left an uncomfortable excitement inside Reno, he managed to control it as he arrived at his apartment, Rude and Elena had been playing last card, Rude had taken his Turks' jacket off, but still managed to look neat even with the shirt and trousers on, neater than Reno anyways. Elena wore her red polo-neck and black baggy trousers, she shot up into the air with triumph as she won, for the sixteenth time, Rude groaned.

"Damn, not again, how do you get so lucky Elena?" Rude asked her, shuffling the cards and placing them back into their packet.

"I played this game all the time with my folks back when I was around 15 or 16," she answered, fixing the cushions back on the couch. Reno greeted them sleepily, while Rude asked him about his date.

"It was great," he answered, going into his mess-filled room, Rude looked at Elena.

"You think he had a great time?" he asked Elena, Elena shrugged and lay on the couch, putting her feet up on the coffee table.

"I dunno, but leave him he's tired, he deserves to sleep after those months of depression, remember? He couldn't sleep for weeks, all those nightmares of his parents' corpses grabbing his neck and strangling him until he couldn't breath, and then he'd wake up shouting "Stop it!", it was freaky seeing him so restless and ghostly, it was a dramatic collapse in part of his life anyways after his, you know, family's death!" she whispered so Reno wouldn't hear, Rude nodded sympathetically and got up to go to his room, he stopped outside Reno's room.

"Reno? You asleep?" he asked idiotically, no answer, Rude shrugged and entered his dark room, Elena spread out the sheets on the couch and slept there. The whole apartment was silent, except for the few gentle snores from Rude.


	3. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3: Unfaithful**

Reno woke up with a start in the morning, his alarm had gone off at 4:00 in the afternoon, Reno groaned and looked at his watch. His spiky hair had gone even spikier, his ponytail messed up, the elastic from his hair that held up his ponytail was slipping down from his hair, he grabbed it and tightened his ponytail. Rude entered his room, and looked at Reno, who had slept with his clothes on.

"You're up late today," he said, placing Reno's Turk suit on the bed, Reno scowled at it.

"What the f**k are you doing, putting that on my bed?" Reno asked angrily. Rude stared at him through his black trademark sunglasses.

"You've got a meeting with President Shinra today, so you best be on your best behaviour and wear this when you go see him," Rude replied firmly.

"What? On my own?" Reno asked, picking up the clothes and tossing the tie across the room, Rude glared at him.

"Yes, it's something personal between you and President Shinra, so don't go blabbing it around, all I know is that it's related to your former job," said Rude, pushing the tie back into the closet, Reno sighed.

"Like I care," Reno mumbled, Elena appeared in the room and looked at Reno.

"Oh, I see you're about to get changed then, I better go," she said flushing red, she exited the room, likewise Rude while Reno got dressed back into his Turks' uniform. After that, Reno trailed lazily down the hallway and into the kitchen, Elena offered him a slice of toast but Reno shook his head. Elena raised her eyebrows at Rude, Rude shrugged.

"Are you sure you don't want anything before you leave?" Elena asked in her most motherly tone, Reno shook his head and got out a crushed packet of cigarettes from his pocket. Elena looked at him angrily.

"I thought you said you gave up after all those months?" she said, keeping her voice stern and annoyed.

"I did, but just in case things get a bit tough, I need these for now," he said, taking out one and holding it between his fingers, Rude looked at Elena.

"Can I just take one-"

"No! You said you'd give up too, unless you have a reason as well!" snapped Elena, cutting Rude off, Rude sighed and continued drinking his strong black coffee. Reno left them two to deal with each other and exited the apartment. He walked slowly down the path, the meeting wasn't till five, he looked at his watch, 4:35. He sighed again, lighting his fag and raising it to his lips, he wasn't keen on the idea of meeting President Shinra and his gang of colleagues. Especially Sephiroth's psycho father Professor Hojo, who works in the Shinra company. Reno continued walking towards Sector 8's outer part of the city, the Shinra building was visible even far away, it hasn't been long since he visited the company's building, it was dull and damp inside, but maybe Shinra had had a few builders to come and fix the place up a bit. Reno entered the large building as he arrived with ten minutes to spare, he travelled along the corridors and finally stopped outside President Shinra's meeting office, he heard voices, probably his colleagues were in on this discussion too. Reno knocked on the door and waited for an answer. The door opened and there stood Scarlet, who's job was the Department of Weapons Development, she smiled and let Reno in. Reno stepped inside the grey room filled with a few flower pots on the side near President Shinra's desk, Scarlet sat down back at her seat, she looked at President Shinra as if they were having a telepathic conversation, President Shinra turned to Reno.

"So Reno, I've been told by Tseng that you have left the Turks, am I clear of that?" he told Reno.

"Yup," Reno answered cheekily, President Shinra looked annoyed at Reno's behaviour, he cleared his throat.

"It has come to my concern that Sector 8 has come to it's final demand on retrieving Jenova back from AVALANCHE, and it is to my responsibility to make sure that the Turks will see to it, Tseng is outraged by your sudden disappearance along with Rude and Elena, now you must be warned, you make another smart move like that you're going to face the consequences. Since Meteor fell on that certain day you decided to save your skin and hightail it back home abandoning your fellow Turk members, and not only that but you drag Elena and Rude into this position! You have disgraced my company, if I hear another complaint from you Mr Corneo you'll not hear the last of me am I understood?" Shinra spat out ragingly, Reno nodded pathetically. Scarlet watched his behaviour and raised her eyebrows.

"You are dismissed, everyone, get back to your usual duties, Miss Scarlet I want you to sort out my paperwork, I'm taking a long vacation in Sector 5, I can't handle this monkey business anymore!" wailed President Shinra, he exited the room, followed by his colleagues all except for Scarlet and Reno. Reno still sat quietly at his seat, staring at the floor. Scarlet got up and walked over to Shinra's desk, sorting out the paperwork he had left for her to do, she looked up at a still moping Reno.

"Are you in disgrace?" she asked him thoroughly, signing final demands and other important documents.

"No, I couldn't give a shit about Shinra's f***ing company!" he cursed loudly, scowling at the stupid smiley expression of President Shinra's photo on the wall. Scarlet giggled and walked slowly over to Reno.

"So you don't care what happens to this company, you'll let the company die is that it? How selfish of you Reno, a former lazy Turk that used to take pride in his work, but now look at you," she said in a bored tone, Reno shook his head, he took out another fag and lit it, Scarlet raised her eyebrows.

"You know smoking's bad for you," she said, but it was obvious she didn't care much.

"I know, and I don't care," he answered gruffly.

"Not a very wise answer, ever since Tseng left me it's been kinda lonely, and I'm sure you've seen AVALANCHE lately haven't you? Like that Ninja girl you had a crush on," she said, putting her hand on Reno's shoulder.

"Nope," he answered stubbornly.

"Oh c'mon now sweetie, you know you can tell me anything," she said sneakily, closing in on the helpless ex-Turk, she was just trying to seduce the answer right out of him but Reno didn't know this, so much for thinking he knows everything. She leaned over to him, her low cut dress revealing more of her cleavage than before, Reno backed away a bit, not realising the womanish charm she washed over him, making him extremely uncomfortable. She lifted his chin up close to her face, her lips almost touching his.

"You've been looking quite lonely since you left the Turks, how about you settle in a bit and get comfortable," she said, stroking his cheek seductively. She jammed her knee on his lap, pushing him over a bit, she placed her hands on the front of his jacket, her lush womanly attitude overwhelmed Reno, he couldn't control his excitement, it's as if he was being controlled by her sexy charms as he found his hands wandering around his waist. She smiled, thinking she might get answers from him by going further.

"So you _do _wanna get comfortable," she said, slipping his jacket off, then unbuttoning his shirt. He smiled weakly as he removed her red satin dress, exposing her big breasts.

"As comfortable as I want babe, don't let Shinra know, this is our little secret," he said, kissing her neck all the way down to her breasts. He had played right into her trap as he removed everything else, pushing her down on the table as he did god knows what, all I know is that, yup, he was _sure _being a _trustworthy _boyfriend to Yuffie.

**************************************************************************

Yuffie sat daydreaming in her house, feeling very lonely, she gazed out the window and thought of Reno. How lovely he was that night, she smiled. This sure was a wonderful feeling, she couldn't believe that Reno had changed, and for good as well. She knew that he wouldn't hurt her in the slightest, not what he had shown yesterday night. The phone rang as Yuffie was switching off into a daydream, she answered it, hoping it was Reno. But it wasn't.

It was Kairi.

"Hey Yuffie, how are you? I guess you're kinda feeling lonely over there by yourself, I'm back in Destiny Island with Sora and the others," said Kairi, Yuffie noticed a strangeness in her voice.

"I'm fine Kairi, you'll never guess what happened!" said Yuffie excitingly, feeling very happy about this news she was gonna tell Kairi.

"What?" Kairi asked eagerly, Yuffie started and Kairi listened interestingly, she gave a squeak of happiness for Yuffie.

"So he's changed? That's very good news, I'm so glad for you Yuffie! Hey, listen, I want you to come to Hollow Bastion with me, I feel something's not right about it. Inside the castle I sense there's something wrong, I don't know what it is, but can you please come with me? Violet and Rhianne will meet us down there too," said Kairi worriedly, Yuffie's happy feeling washed away, she was so concerned for Kairi and she hoped that her new home world wasn't in danger. Yuffie agreed immediately and hung up. She grabbed her jacket and headed for the door.

She arrived in Hollow Bastion and met Kairi standing in front of Huey, Duey and Louie's shop, she waved uncertainly at Yuffie. The harsh wind surrounded them as Yuffie went up to Kairi.

"So, are you ready, where are Rhianne and Violet?" Yuffie asked, looking around at the now deserted area.

"They're probably at the Rising Falls now, they'll wait for us don't worry, it seems so quiet today," said Kairi, she looked into the Triplet's shop, they weren't there. Kairi shivered violently, staring straight at Yuffie.

"It's so strange, let's go," said Yuffie hurriedly, Kairi nodded and followed Yuffie, who headed straight for the Rising Falls. They arrived and found Rhianne and Violet waiting for them, they rushed over to them.

"The senses down here feel even stronger, I bet it's in the castle!" said Kairi, Rhianne looked up at the castle, the sun reflecting her black hair.

"Let's go in then if we're gonna find out," said Rhianne serenely, but a hint of nervousness was spotted in her tone. Yuffie followed, she let herself go before Kairi, if anyone's gonna get hurt, it's gonna be Yuffie. She didn't want Kairi to get hurt anymore than she did when she had lost her heart to the darkness, let's just hope that the sense Kairi had for the castle was just a glitch. They entered the castle and looked around. The place seemed empty.

"Let's split up, you guys go to the Castle Chapel. And me and Rhianne will check the lower parts of Hollow Bastion," said Violet, a worry frown appearing on her head, Kairi gave Violet a hug showing that she needn't worry about her safety since Violet acted like Kairi's older sister. Kairi and Yuffie entered the Castle Chapel, Kairi groaned and put her hand to her head, Yuffie went to Kairi, she put her hand on Kairi's shoulder.

"Kairi? Kairi! Are you ok?" said Yuffie giving Kairi a little shake, Kairi groaned and her eyes squinted a little, as if a sharp pain was in her head. Yuffie looked around as she heard footsteps, a man with white hair emerged from the corner of one of the walls.

"So, you've finally come, princess," said the man with white hair.

"Ansem!" said Yuffie frighteningly. Ansem smiled evilly, Kairi stayed behind Yuffie, the pain in her head thumping.

"The pain that you feel inside you princess, is nothing more than just the feeling of the darkness lurking in Hollow Bastion. Take a look at this castle, the darkness lurks within these walls, soon the Heartless shall engulf this world and take back what used to be theirs. I am no longer dead and gone, I have revived myself from the power of the Keyholes that Keyblade wielder locked, he thought he would save those worlds when the keyholes were finally locked, those walls that separated the worlds from each other which had been eaten away by the Heartless, they were the very thing that kept the worlds protected from outsiders like you. Darkness will never want to die, and never it shall, as long as darkness lurks in the heart of each person, there is no end to the darkness. Now, come with me princess, help make the darkness eternal!" said Ansem mentally, he walked slowly over to Kairi and Yuffie. Yuffie went in front of Kairi, she got out her weapons and got ready to attack Ansem. Ansem smiled and summoned a few Defender Heartless, Yuffie attacked them with ease and faced Ansem.

"It's no use putting your little pets into action, fight yourself!" she yelled, Ansem laughed loudly.

"And so I shall, but it's your funeral!" he exclaimed, making a sudden attack at Yuffie, he used his Guardian to help him, bringing a immense force of dark powers, he injured Yuffie, giving her a gash on her arm, she fell to the ground and tried to get up with one arm. Ansem smiled at his successful attack and started another full force attack on a struggling Yuffie, he got her in the stomach with one of his powers, the Guardian slashed her cheek. Kairi screamed as Yuffie was sent crashing towards the wall, blood dribbled from her arm and mouth. She fell and landed on the dusty floor, Ansem walked over to Yuffie and got out his weapon, a long sword which resembled Riku's keyblade, he raised it to Yuffie's neck, piercing a bit of her flesh. Yuffie swallowed hard.

"You wish to perish, then so be it!" he said quietly, he dug the sword into Yuffie's stomach, Yuffie screamed and groaned with the pain, Ansem picked her up with the sword still dug deep in her stomach, he threw her across the room, the blood reflected on the sword, red droplets dripping from the sword, Yuffie's stomach smeared red across her black top as she gasped for air. Kairi had tears coming out from her eyes, she looked at Ansem.

"You bastard! She'll die!" Kairi cried out, Ansem laughed and turned to Kairi, he summoned his Guardian away and strolled over to Kairi.

"It was her choice, now come, let's bring back the darkness once and for all!" he shouted, taking hold of Kairi and vanishing out of sight, Yuffie lay in pain on the ground, tears coming from her eyes, she tried to get up but the pain stung her stomach and she lay back on the ground. Rhianne and Violet ran in the Castle Chapel, they gasped as they saw Yuffie lying on the ground, injured. Rhianne picked her up and shook her.

"Yuffie! Yuffie what happened!" she asked worriedly, her voice sounding extremely scared. Violet went over, her eyes filled with so much anxiousness.

"Kairi, Ansem got her *cough* please, we've got to-" she choked and coughed up blood. Rhianne shook her head. Violet put her hand on her head, she let out a small squeaky sound.

"Don't say another word, we've got to get you to the hospital, and fast!" said Violet, she helped Rhianne carry Yuffie out of the castle and into the city, they quickly got her to the hospital and told the nurse it was an emergency. They rushed Yuffie into ward 76 and the Doctor saw to her right away, he examined her stomach, which was now pouring out blood again as he removed the cloth hat was covering her stomach, he told Violet and Rhianne to wait outside, Violet burst into tears as she thought of Kairi and now that she might be losing her other best friend Yuffie, Rhianne comforted her and they both waited patiently outside Ward 76.

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An hour had just past, Yuffie was away injured and here was Reno having sex with Scarlet, being very untrustworthy, Reno shifted his naked body off of Scarlet's one and lay beside her, catching his breath though he still wasn't finished yet. Scarlet looked at Reno, she smiled at him.

"You comfortable enough now?" she breathed, Reno nodded and smiled at her, stroking her exposed hips.

"Maybe we can get a bit more comfortable?" he asked slyly, (geez I may be the author but writing this makes me want to smack his stupid smug face! Tee hee, I'm sooo CRUEL! Well let's keep on typin) Scarlet smirked.

"In a minute, I just want to ask you a few questions, have you had any contact with any AVALANCHE members?" she asked him, putting her finger under his chin and smiling at him sneakily.

"Yeah, but let's skip the shit talk," he ordered, as he groped one of her breasts insistently.

"In a minute, who was this person?" Scarlet asked, feeling a bit overcome by his sudden grasp.

"Yuffie Kisaragi, happy now? C'mon let's do this instead," said Reno eagerly, pulling her towards him, placing his hands on her hips.

"Certainly," she answered, delighted with the information she had got out of him with just a simple charm from her, Reno lay his body on top of Scarlet once more and continued the ungrateful business with the woman who had just gotten answers from him through a single touch. He kissed her red lips, the butterflies in his stomach becoming more excited, so this was it. He had caused himself to lose his virginity over a woman who didn't love him at all like the way Yuffie did, but it wasn't the virginity part, no way, it was how he played around with the unloved, dirty business he did, and what we would call his own selfish desires.

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Violet's eyes were red and puffy when the doctor had finally emerged from inside ward 76, Rhianne looked at the doctor nervously, he looked back at the two worried friends of Yuffie.

"Everything's all right, she should be allowed to go home right away, if there's a sign of any drowsiness, bring her straight back to the hospital ok?" he said cheerily. Rhianne and Violet nodded, they looked at the door.

"You can go see her if you like," he said, understanding their look. They beamed and rushed into the ward, where they found their injured friend bandaged up around the stomach, she was seating up, looking quite healthy.

"Hey you guys, look at me, I've got a bandage and stitches underneath," she said light-heartedly, they both laughed with relief and went over to Yuffie.

"You feeling better?" Rhianne asked, feeling concerned.

"Yeah, my stomach's still sore but otherwise I'm fine," came the calm reply from Yuffie, Violet smiled relieved for Yuffie.

"Let's take you home Yuffie, we'll tell Sora about Kairi, you can't really do anything in this condition," said Violet, Yuffie nodded but still felt somehow responsible for Kairi's capture, Rhianne, Violet and Yuffie exited the hospital. They arrived in Midgar sector 7 in an hour, Yuffie thanked them and felt a pang of sadness as they left Midgar, back to their original home world. She missed the gang back in Destiny Island and Hollow Bastion, but shook her head and went into her house. She thought of Reno and then decided to pay him a visit, she knew where he lived anyways, in an apartment in Sector 8 with Elena and Rude. That's what he told her anyways, she dropped her bag on the couch and headed out the door again. It was 8:00, the sunset filled sky was visible above Yuffie's head, she breathed in the near-summer air and felt happy, despite the unfortunate events that happened, she was determined to find out if Kairi was ok, but now it couldn't be helped. She appeared in Sector 8 and saw the apartment, she felt shy and butterflies filled her tummy, she held back the butterflies in her tummy and continued to walk forwards towards the apartment, she knocked on the door and Rude answered it. He looked at Yuffie and Yuffie felt small and silly.

"Oh, er…hi Rude, long time no see, er-" just as Yuffie was about to ask for Reno, Elena appeared behind Rude.

"Hey Yuffie! Sorry about those times we caused so much trouble, no hard feelings eh?" she said rapidly, Yuffie nodded and looked at Rude.

"So, um, is Reno here?" she asked eventually, Rude looked at Elena.

"Sorry, he had a meeting today and he's not back yet, we don't know what happened to him," said Elena, looking suddenly worried, Rude nodded.

"You can wait here if you like," said Elena kindly, Yuffie couldn't say yes fast enough.

"Ok, if that's all right with you two," said Yuffie thankfully.

"It's ok, really, since you know, you and Reno are becoming an item," Elena winked and went into the kitchen, Rude followed Elena and Yuffie went in as well.

"Would you like some coffee?" Elena asked Yuffie, putting on the kettle.

"Yes please," Yuffie answered politely, looking around at the decorative little kitchen, all thanks to Elena for decorating it with ornaments and flower pots.

They had another cup of coffee around 8:30, Elena began fretting, likewise Yuffie. What happened to him? Rude, stayed sitting like a statue, reading the newspaper while Elena and Yuffie chatted constantly about killing Reno if he doesn't come back in the next five minutes. At that moment, they heard footsteps and the door opened, the redheaded traitor (unknown to Yuffie, Rude and Elena) stepped inside, looking a bit messed up. His clothes had been creased, his hair looked lankier than before. Yuffie rushed up to him and hit his arm, likewise Elena. He backed away suddenly, Yuffie then hugged him.

"Where have you been? I was so worried about you!" said Yuffie, she breathed in the sweet scent from his hair, it smelled like shampoo. No wonder his hair was lankier than normal.

"Did you have a shower?" Yuffie asked curiously, Reno nodded. Elena made a cup of coffee again for herself, Yuffie, Rude and Reno. Yuffie and Reno sat down at the table, Elena sat beside Yuffie.

"You'll never guess what happened to me today," Yuffie started. Elena looked at her, Reno did likewise.

"What happened?" Elena asked, Reno managed to look at Yuffie.

"Well, maybe this might explain a bit," she caught the edge of her shirt and was about to pull it up a bit when Elena butted in.

"Hold on! Wait a minute! Don't strip yourself! What are you doing?" she babbled stupidly. Yuffie looked at her.

"I'm not stripping, I'm just - look!" Yuffie showed them the big bandage that covered her stomach, Elena gasped, Reno looked like he was going to go mad.

"Who the hell did this to you?" Reno asked furiously, Yuffie explained the whole story. Elena gasped again, Reno looked confused, Rude stayed reading the paper. They all chatted for 2 hours, Reno didn't say much, but managed to say a few things, Yuffie looked at the time, it was 10:30.

"Oh, I better go now, I have work tomorrow, see ya soon, ok?" said Yuffie, giving Elena a hug, she went over to Reno and hugged him. "Goodnight Reno, I hope to see you soon, maybe next week then?" she asked.

"Yeah, maybe, I'll call you," said Reno weakly, Yuffie smiled and gave him a kiss that lasted for a minute, Elena smiled at both of them and sighed dreamily. Yuffie exited the house with one last wave, the door closed, Reno stared at the door. Looking extremely bothered. He had a scratch on his chest, big enough to notice, even though Yuffie hadn't noticed it, Elena spotted it straight away. She tapped Rude on the shoulder and pointed at Reno's chest. Rude saw and looked confused.

"Well, I'm going to bed," Reno said finally, but Rude halted him.

"Wait just one minute Reno, come back here," Rude demanded, Reno stopped and turned to Rude. The scratch was more visible in the light.

"Where did that scratch on your chest come from?" Rude asked suspiciously, Reno shrugged.

"I dunno," he lied, feeling guilt spread across his body. Rude's eyes narrowed.

"Take that shirt off! And maybe we'll find more answers!" he said sternly.

"What? You're gay!" said Reno worriedly, and shockingly.

"Off with it or I'm ripping it off!" Rude threatened, Reno scowled.

"Fine!" he snapped, Reno slipped his jacket off, and unbuttoned his shirt, Elena flushed red. But settled because it wasn't so bad, he was a man after all, what was there to show on his upper body. Reno threw the shirt on the floor and stood half naked in the kitchen. Rude looked a bit embarrassed, still not knowing why he said that, but it was for a good cause.

"Turn around so we can see if you have any more of these "scratches"," said Rude, doing quotation marks with his fingers.

"Oh my god, is this an observe Reno's body time or what?" Reno said irritably.

"Shut up and turn around!" Rude snapped, Reno sighed and turned around, more scratches were visible on his back, Elena shook her head.

"For god's sake Reno, were you fighting with cats or something?" Elena asked stupidly, Rude shook his head at her. The obvious hitting him.

"Reno…" he breathed, his nose pinching.

"Yeah," Reno answered nervously, afraid he might get caught.

"Were you having sex with a woman?" Rude asked, keeping his voice in control, but rage was building up inside him.

"What? Hell no!" Reno denied.

"Stop lying you bastard! WERE YOU?" he shouted, Reno stepped back. Rude got up and marched over to his nervous friend, he grabbed him on the shoulders, squeezing his shoulder blades.

"I WASN'T!" Reno yelled back persistently.

"I SAID DON'T LIE! IT'S OBVIOUS! DON'T YOU START LYING TO ME MISTER! WHO DID YOU MESS AROUND WITH?" Rude roared back, startling Reno, who was trembling with fear. Rude was a big guy, who could really pack a punch if you really raved him.

"I didn't do ANYTHING!" Reno insisted, getting annoyed.

This was a big mistake, Reno found himself getting knocked to the ground, Rude had struck him a hard punch across the face, breaking his nose and busting his lip. Rude went over to Reno and pulled him up roughly by the arm. Elena watched helplessly in the background, feeling frustrated with Reno.

"I told you, not to lie to me, now I'll say it once again, did you have SEX WITH ANOTHER WOMAN!" Rude hissed angrily, Reno spat out the blood from his lip that ran into his mouth, he looked at Rude.

"YES! I ADMIT IT! I DID HAVE SEX WITH A WOMAN!" Reno shouted back, the words cutting his throat like knives, the sourness filled his mouth as he spoke these words to Rude, Rude looked shocked, his black glasses falling lopsided. Elena gasped and shot up from the table, she walked over to Reno and smacked him hard across the face.

"You untrustworthy bastard! After all that you told us about Yuffie, you go and have sex with another woman, like you obviously don't care about Yuffie, and you lost your _virginity_!" said Elena disgusted with Reno, Reno looked at the ground, ashamed at what he did.

"With whom did you sleep with?" Rude asked quietly, his head turned away from Reno.

"Scarlet," Reno answered, feeling a hatred towards that woman who mesmerized him.

"_That _bitch? You slept with her?" Elena asked, looking astonished.

"It just happened ok? She went to me first, and she was…" Reno stopped, he didn't want to continue, he knew that it was still in a way his fault, he could have left if he wanted to, but no, he stayed and fulfilled his selfish desires. (Like I said!) "I'm going to bed, see ya in the morning," he replied quietly, he got up and left the kitchen, entering his room. He slammed the door behind him, leaving Elena and Rude to gossip about Reno's behaviour, Reno lay in his bed, he decided he wasn't gonna tell Yuffie, no matter how hurt he felt inside keeping this secret from Yuffie. Why did he do it? Why? Why? Why? Why? Why? He didn't love her, but that excitement he felt when she touched him, it was eating at his desires, like it _wanted_ it so eagerly that he let his desires take over him and this is what happened. He betrayed Yuffie's trust in him, Reno took out another cigarette from his crushed packet and lit it, he tried to calm his nerves, but he knew this wasn't good enough for him, as he removed the lit cigarette from his lips, he flung it on the ashtray and lay on his side, closing his eyes, wishing that he could have stopped what he had done. But it happened, and there was nothing he could do about it. Only not to tell Yuffie about it, never. He drifted off to sleep, the images of the event haunted him in his sleep, a tear slid down his cheek. "I'm an ungrateful f***ing bastard," he whispered to himself, and he stayed quiet for the rest of the night.


	4. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4: The Truth revealed**

The early Monday morning sunshine hit Yuffie's sleeping face, she grunted and groaned as the sun's rays woke her up, feeling drowsy and grumpy, she got up and slouched over to the bathroom; at least a good wash will wake her up. She placed the alarm clock on the bathroom sill, knocking back a few face moisturisers and make up removers, Yuffie didn't really bother much with make-up but still kept it just in case she ever did. The first thing that hit Yuffie's head that morning was Kairi's capture, and the agonizing pain on her stomach, she clutched it and searched the cabinets for her Panadol tablets to ease the sharp pain. Yuffie poured herself some water from the tap and washed the tablet down, hopefully it would ease up soon since she had work today in the pub. She also hoped Reno might pay a visit down at the pub since he was, after all, an alcoholic. Yuffie was still a bit bemused of why Reno looked so down yesterday, what happened to him? Why hadn't he spoken much? Usually he was the one to take control of a conversation, but yesterday it had all eased down to a few simple words. Yuffie shrugged and got dressed quickly, she wore a short black skirt, with a white blouse, she didn't want anything too dressy for work so this seemed acceptable enough. Yuffie combed her hair and tied it back with her green ribbon that had fluffy white feathers hanging from it. She went downstairs and made herself a slice of toast with a hard boiled egg, she had gotten time to buy the stuff she needed from the shop at the weekend, Yuffie ate her breakfast hungrily, at least a good nourishing breakfast would wake her up.

She grabbed the keys to her house and ambled out the front door, she locked the door and left the keys into the pocket of her black coat. She wore black and grey boots, they clopped against the dry pavement as she entered Sector 8, the pub just a mile off. She entered the drink-scented pub, she was five minutes late and a crowd of people had already entered the pub before she got there. Yuffie wandered into the kitchen, she laid her bag on the wooden chair and hung her jacket on the coat hanger, Natasha poked her head around the corner, she smiled at Yuffie.

"I see you've managed to drag yourself out of bed this morning," greeted Natasha sunnily, Yuffie gave her a big smile.

"Sorry about that," Yuffie apologised, Natasha was clutching a clean tea towel in one hand and a dirty glass in the other.

"Never mind, excuse the dirty glass I have in my hand, I'm just in the middle of washing the dishes, can you see to the customers please?" Natasha asked courteously.

"Right away ma'am," Yuffie answered, marching out of the kitchen, she stopped in front of a middle-aged man with a scruffy beard. She smiled sweetly.

"What can I get for you then sir?" Yuffie asked, taking the man's order. The man smiled back at her, he seemed harmless enough.

"I'll have a martini, not unless your for sale sweet pea," he said flatteringly.

"That's very complimentary of you sir, but I'm not, I'll bring your drink down for you in a jiffy," she said, the man smiled and sat down at his table. Yuffie didn't mind his compliment, he was just a harmless middle-aged man, Yuffie brought the drink down to him a minute later, he thanked her gratefully and paid, also adding in a tip for kind service. Yuffie couldn't help glowing, she blushed pink and went back to the counter. Natasha finished washing up and started clearing the counter and sweeping the floors, Yuffie watched her clean like a cleaning machine, she sure worked harder today than before. What was going on today, she had pink blush circles on her cheeks, Yuffie decided to ask her when their working hours were over.

They cleared the place up at 12:25pm, the windows grew dust and the light that shone in the room revealed the amount of dust on the window. Natasha grimaced at it, Yuffie glanced at the other windows to check if they were all the same, they were.

"Well, let's get cracking, start spraying the windows, I'll go get the sponges and a bucket of water," said Natasha hurriedly, she seemed to be in a rush today, Yuffie had it all planned out, she was gonna ask her why.

"Hey, Natasha?" Yuffie asked while scrubbing the windows with a grubby sponge.

"Yes dear?" said Natasha, her back facing Yuffie as she sprayed the grimy window, Yuffie bit her lip and squeezed the sponge nervously.

"Why are you in a rush today?" Yuffie asked ultimately.

"I was hoping you would ask that, I have to get home very soon because my fiancé is coming over to my house in five minutes," Natasha replied, putting the sponges into the bucket of water and retreated to the kitchen to put them back where she found them. She came back and Yuffie started once again.

"Fiancé? You never told me you were engaged!" said Yuffie amazed by this sudden news, Natasha gave a little light chuckle.

"Sorry I didn't tell you sooner, we've known each other for 4 months, and we're planning on getting married in the summer," said Natasha a delighted expression washed over her tired face. Yuffie squealed.

"Oh my god, that's huge news! I'm so glad for you! I hope everything works out ok!" said Yuffie, getting up so suddenly that she knocked over the chair and it made a loud clatter as it banged against the table, Natasha burst in fits of laughter.

"You clumsy girl, ah well, I'll see you tomorrow then, Yuffie, bye!" said Natasha, she left the pub, leaving Yuffie staring into space. Yuffie entered the kitchen and fingered the plastic bottles, thinking about Reno, wishing she could conjure him up beside her, she could almost feel the warmth of his body against hers. Yuffie closed her eyes and thought of his smooth lips brushing against her own soft ones…

Just then, she heard the door open, she jumped violently, causing her to knock over the plastic bottles. She scrambled to her feet, cleared up the plastic bottles back into their original position and ran out back to the counter. Her hair flailing wildly behind her, she stopped at the counter and saw a familiar face. It was Reno, Yuffie blushed like a fool, fixing her hair and struggled to remain cool.

"Hey Yuff, I thought I'd come visit you," said Reno, giving Yuffie a small smile, "whoa, indecency alert!" he added, as he spotted the buttons on Yuffie's blouse straining, showing her chest and nearly exposing her black bra. She blushed deep red and buttoned up her blouse again.

"Sorry, I'm not big on the top but the buttons undo a lot of the times," she explained hastily, Reno raised his eyebrows and lifted her chin up.

"And you left it on to show me hmm?" he asked cheekily, Yuffie laughed sweetly.

"You wish, I'm not flaunting my boobs for you!" said Yuffie, Reno chortled quietly.

"Ah well, maybe I'll get a glimpse of them some day," he answered impishly. Yuffie clapped his shoulder.

"Some day, meaning in your dreams," said Yuffie, Reno closed in on her, his lips bumping against hers.

"Some day, meaning the day I show you how I feel…" he planted a kiss upon her lips, wrapping his arms around her waist, then stroking her liquorice hair, the strands of her hair covering his hand like a blanket. Reno moved his hand up her blouse, stroking her exposed back, Yuffie froze, the sensational feeling alarming her. She managed to remain calm, letting his hand rest against her back, she deepened his kiss, pressing her hands against his chest. Reno's hands then wandered up further and he started to undo the straps of her bra. Yuffie pushed herself away from him alarmingly.

"Reno! Don't do that! I-I don't feel ready yet," she said, feeling her whole body hot and she was trembling all over.

"Sorry, Yuff, I kinda got a bit carried away with the excitement," he mumbled, flustered a bit, Yuffie giggled.

"Well save the best for last, we're still virgins after all, right," said Yuffie, smiling happily. Reno shut his eyes tightly, as if a pain had stung his chest, that was a lie. He wasn't a virgin, but Yuffie didn't know this, this is what made him feel rubbish.

"Just shut up about it ok?" he snapped, pulling Yuffie towards him and kissing her, lip-locking the kiss, Yuffie looked at him surprisingly, she tried to push him away. She wanted to ask him about why he had snapped like that, and then pull her forwards so suddenly, planting a rough kiss upon her lips. Reno hung onto her, still kissing her deeply, wanting to take away the pain in his chest. After this, they broke apart, panting heavily.

"Reno, why did you do that?" Yuffie said sharply. Reno looked away from her, still panting from the rough kiss.

"I can't tell you Yuffie, not now anyways, I'll tell you next week, but just not today or tomorrow baby, I can't," he said, trying to keep his voice in control and trying hard not to let the tears drip. Yuffie looked at him, concerned about his behaviour. She hugged him tightly, giving him a kiss on the cheek.

"Ok, let's meet up on Friday ok?" said Yuffie, Reno nodded, Yuffie then got a text message, it was from Natasha. It read:

_Hi Yuffie, I just text you just to tell you that I'm closing the pub for this week and next, because I'm going on holidays with my Fiancé, George, to Wutai, hope you enjoy your two weeks off! XxXxXxXxXxXxX_

"Oh, how about Wednesday instead?" said Yuffie enthusiastically.

"You have work on Wednesdays!" Reno replied dolefully.

"No I don't, Natasha's going on holidays for two weeks so I'm off then, please!" she pleaded, Reno hesitated, then nodded.

"Ok, see you Wednesday," he said, kissing her again before getting up, he reached his hand out for hers. "Walk you home?"

"Sure," Yuffie responded, taking his hand. He walked her home, safely in the streets of Sector 8, no one would attack Yuffie since she had a man with her. They got to her house in double quick time, Yuffie kissed Reno goodnight and walked into her house, shutting the door behind her, she thought about Kairi and grabbed her mobile, bringing it upstairs with her. She called Rhianne.

"Hey Rhianne, have you found Kairi yet?" said Yuffie.

"No, we're checking in Hollow Bastion tomorrow, I'm afraid you can't come, you're still in a bad condition from last time, give me a call tomorrow ok?" said Rhianne yawning, feeling a great tiredness.

"Ok, see ya tomorrow, bye!" said Yuffie and she hung up, Yuffie flung the phone on the floor. She hated not being able to help, Yuffie lay on the bed and closed her eyes, thinking about what Reno was going to tell her. She prayed that it wasn't anything bad, it couldn't be, he changed. Yuffie fell asleep, the thoughts still floating through her subconscious.

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Yuffie woke up early in the morning, the clock read 6:45, she picked up her mobile and rang Rhianne. Rhianne answered it.

"Hey Rhianne, you in Hollow Bastion now?" Yuffie asked eagerly.

"We are, but…something's not quite right, I'm here with the others and there's Heartless everywhere, darkness has spread so fast it's eating up the entire village and…wha - AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGHH!!! YUFFIE GET HE-" the phone died, Yuffie still held it, unable to believe what had just happened.

"Rhianne? RHIANNE ARE YOU THERE?" Yuffie panicked, she threw her phone in her pocket and rushed out of the house. She made her way to Reno's apartment, she knocked on the door frantically.

"RENO? ELENA? RUDE? SOMEONE PLEASE ANSWER!" Yuffie called panicking like mad, she started breathing fast, gruesome thoughts spinning around in her head, she couldn't overcome the anxiety she was feeling now, she banged on the door again. She heard angry voices and suddenly the door opened, Rude had answered it, he was wearing his trousers and nothing else, Yuffie, too afraid to notice, started asking for Reno. Reno rushed out of his bedroom and went to Rude, he looked at Yuffie.

"Yuffie? What the f**k are you doing here? It's 7 in the morning!" said Reno grumpily. Rude, his eyes half shut, went away from the two of them. Yuffie looked at Reno, tears filling her eyes.

"Reno! I need you to come with me to Hollow Bastion, my other home world, my friends are in trouble and I really want to help them!" Yuffie cried, tears spilling down her red cheeks, Reno hugged her closely.

"Ok, just let me…well…get dressed first," he said. After five minutes, he arrived, Yuffie dragged him along the hall, they ran outside and disappeared into Sector 7.

Yuffie arrived in Hollow Bastion, alongside Reno, the place was dark and black spires had appeared on the ground, Yuffie looked around worriedly, looking for her friends.

"Sora! Rhianne! Anyone! WHERE ARE YOU?" she shouted, scared to death for their safety, Reno looked confusingly around the new place. He looked at Yuffie.

"What's going on around here," he asked. Yuffie explained to him as best as she could what was happening, he nodded, still feeling puzzled. She ran passed the dark spires, all the way to the Rising Falls. Reno stared open mouthed at the huge castle, darkness was covering it. Yuffie looked up at it, worrying about the others. She went inside the castle, fighting the Heartless as she entered the Library.

"Sora? Is anybody here?" she asked, losing hope, she ran ahead, Reno followed her from behind. They reached the Castle Chapel, to Yuffie's shock, trails of fresh blood covered the moist, green floor, she dashed over to the corner and found Rhianne and Stefie, covered in pools of fresh, clear, warm blood. Yuffie gasped.

"Stefie? What happened?" Yuffie asked, wrapping her injured friend in her jacket. She tried to stop the blood flowing from her side.

"Ansem attacked us, he's grown stronger Yuffie, the power of darkness filled his veins and body, making him powerful, Sora went in after him, please, help stop Ansem." said Stefie, lying weakly into Yuffie's arms. Yuffie cried.

"It's all my fault!" Yuffie cried out, punching her painful stomach, making the agonizing pain worse. Reno stopped her.

"Stop it! It's not your fault, c'mon, let's help your friend!" Reno encouraged her, Yuffie nodded, tears clinging to her black eyelashes.

The rushed into the next room, where the six Princesses of Heart were kept, Yuffie was shocked to see them there again, looking lifeless, the dark stones surrounding their legs and arms. Yuffie ran up the stairs, Sora lay bloody on the ground, his arm had been slashed deeply, it looked like it was about to fall off. Ansem stood over him, getting ready to plunge his sword deep into Sora's heart. Yuffie screamed.

"Leave him alone!" she yelled, Ansem turned to her direction, Reno followed Yuffie.

"Well if it isn't the girl who would have died if her little friends hadn't nursed her back to health," said Ansem mockingly, Yuffie rushed up to him, attacking him with her weapons. He dodged and slashed Yuffie across the cheek, she fell to the ground, wiping the blood from her chin, she scrambled to her feet, ready to face Ansem. Reno stood in the background, not knowing what to do. Sora stood up and started to attack Ansem with his Keyblade, Ansem fought viciously and knocked Sora to the ground again. Yuffie dug her weapons deep into Ansem's back, Ansem yelled with the pain and tried to dig the sword into Yuffie's stomach. Yuffie grabbed onto the tip of the sword, she tried to pull the sword off him, Ansem, being too strong, lifted the sword with Yuffie, Yuffie hung on to the sword, her legs kicked as she tried to get back on the ground. Ansem smiled.

"This time…you shall meet your death!" he announced as he pulled the sword from her grasp, he brought he sword full circle and cut Yuffie from her breastbone to her stomach, she screamed with the pain, blooding spurted everywhere, she landed flat on her stomach, feeling weak, the blood trailed around her body, she shut her eyes, thinking it was the end for her.

"YUFFIE!" Reno shouted, he ran up to her and crouched down beside her, Ansem walked up from behind him, just as he was about to stab Reno's back, Reno dodged it and kicked the sword out of Ansem's grip, Ansem grew annoyed and punched Reno's face, busting his lip. Sora grabbed Ansem's sword and dug it into Ansem's heart, Reno took out his stun baton and stuck it into his back. Ansem shouted, blood coming from his mouth and his chest, he then disappeared. Reno left his bloodied stun baton on the ground and went over to Yuffie, she looked at Reno and smiled weakly, before closing her eyes, thinking this was her last glimpse of her loved one…

************************************************

"Please Yuffie, wake up,"

Still no movement.

"Please, I need you,"

Her eyes twitched a bit, but no other movement was made.

"I love you Yuff, please don't die, _please_,"

She felt a hand grasp her own one tightly, she woke up and found Reno holding her hand, followed by Sora, Kairi, Riku and the others all around her bedside, she squinted and tried to get up. A sharp pain had erupted against her breastbone, she looked down, her breastbone all the way down to her stomach was all covered in bandages. She looked around, concerned faces surrounded her. She took a proper look at Reno, he looked dreadful, he was skinnier than before, his eyes were bloodshot, dark circles were under his eyes.

"You were out for four days you know, worried Reno to death, he wouldn't sleep and all he did was smoke and drink all day, he felt so guilty for your injuries that he couldn't sleep and usually drank himself to sleep. It was horrible seeing him so restless like this, he really cares for you Yuffie!" said Kairi sympathetically, Reno felt hurt again, he turned his head away, fresh tears appearing in his eyes. Yuffie spotted his tear-stained face.

"Hey guys, do you know when I'll be checking out?" she asked, eager to get out of the hospital. "The doctor said he'll see you in a minute, just to fill out some forms and that stuff," said Sora, glancing at the door. Yuffie sighed.

"Not filling forms again, the last time that happened it was so stressful, but at least I'm going home," said Yuffie, stretching, she also glanced at the door.

It was ten minutes later when the doctor had finally arrived, Sora, Yuffie and Reno had lost their patience by then.

"Well you took your time!" Sora said rudely.

"What the f**k took you so long?" Reno snapped. Yuffie hushed him, the doctor scowled at Sora and Reno.

"Well, without anymore disruptions, may I please start the paperwork, can the visitors please leave the room." he said strictly, everyone except for Yuffie and the doctor, left the room to let the paperwork begin.

The paper work finished within five minutes, Yuffie smiled and asked Kairi to pass her bag so she could get changed in the bathrooms. Kairi gave Yuffie her bag and went into the bathroom, she stopped and hesitated.

"Hey Kairi, I think you'll have to help me put my clothes on since it hurts when I stretch my arms over my head, you don't mind do you?" Yuffie asked kindly, Kairi nodded in agreement and they both entered the bathroom. Sora and Reno looked at each other, then started chatting just to pass the time. A half an hour later and Kairi and Yuffie reappeared, Yuffie had washed her hair in the basin in the bathroom so that it had got its shine back. She also had a quick bath before leaving.

"So, are we ready to go?" she asked, they all nodded and left the room. Reno hung back with Yuffie as she packed her bag, stuffing the shampoo and comb in with her slippers. She turned to Reno and smiled weakly.

"Ready?" she asked him.

"Yup," he answered quietly, wiping the smeared tears on his cheek.

"Hey, when we get out of the hospital, which we're doing now, how about we go back to my place? You were going to tell me something anyways," she decided, Reno nodded, becoming very quiet. The others left them on their own as they returned to their homes, Cloud told Yuffie if she ever wanted help that she was always welcome to come to him. Yuffie thanked Cloud, and hugged him. Cloud left with Aerith, they both walked hand in hand back to the comfort of their home. Yuffie felt happy, but a bit scared at why Reno was so unhappy.

Yuffie entered her home, letting Reno in before her. She closed the door behind her and hung her coat on the banisters, then looked at a miserable Reno.

"Do you want a drink or anything?" Yuffie offered. Reno shook his head.

"Ok, well, do you wanna go upstairs? Or in the kitchen? I really don't mind," said Yuffie quickly, wiping the dust off the banister.

"Can I tell you upstairs? I think it might be better," he answered, Yuffie nodded. They strolled upstairs and entered Yuffie's bedroom. She closed the door and felt very uncomfortable in his presence. Yuffie seated herself on the edged of her bed.

"So, um…you can sit here," she said patting the space beside her. Reno sat down beside her, feeling guilty.

"So…what were you going to tell me?" she asked suddenly, Reno looked at her, his eyes filled with sadness.

"Yuffie, I…I'm such a f***ing ungrateful bastard!" he spat out.

"Why?" Yuffie asked.

"Because I am!" he said.

"But why are you?" she asked again.

Reno breathed out, his voice shaking a bit. "Because, I can't!"

"Please, Reno."

"OK…it was on a Sunday morning, Rude told me that I had a meeting with President Shinra, I thought it was all shit and I went anyways cos I had to, that was the biggest mistake of my life - oh god!" he said bowing his head, stopping the tears coming out.

_That was the biggest mistake of my life…_

"Yes?" Yuffie asked nervously.

"I went in and Shinra was all like bitching about me leaving the Turks and he said that I had put Rude and Elena into a lot of danger, I felt very guilty after this, but not as guilty as I feel now…"

_But not as guilty as I feel now…_

"And?" Yuffie asked again.

"This woman that works there, she was all over me, seducing me with her charms and well…"

_This woman that works there, she was all over me, seducing me with her charms and well…_

"Yes?" Yuffie asked, her heart thumping, not wanting to hear the next words.

"I don't know what got over me but…"

_I don't know what got over me but…_

"_Yes?_" she asked again, leaning over to him.

"We were still in the office…and…well…I HAD SEX WITH HER!" Reno blurted out suddenly, he got up so furiously, the bed sheets creased, he banged his head against the wall, feeling so sick.

_We were still in the office…and…well…I had sex with her…_

_Ungrateful_

_Unfaithful_

_Bastard_

Yuffie dropped the glass ornament she was looking at, it shattered into pieces on the floor, just like her heart. Tears filled her eyes, she bit her fist to stop the sobs coming out. She turned away from Reno, who still had his head against the faded pink wall.

"Why?" she whispered hurtfully.

"I don't know," he answered. Yuffie got up viciously and walked over to him.

"WHY?" she asked angrily.

"I SAID I DON'T KNOW!" he yelled back pushing Yuffie against the wall, she let out a sob. Reno turned his head away from her. He made his way towards the door.

"I'm leaving now ok?" he said quietly.

"Then leave!" she snapped, tears dripping down her cheeks, they streamed like raindrops from the heavens, Reno opened the door and left her against the wall.

"Unfaithful bastard!" she hissed.

"F**k off," Reno answered and shuffled down the stairs. He slammed the front door behind him and walked into the now dark streets.

The rain started to fall heavily, Reno strolled lazily, kicking a can that stood in his way. He tilted his head back, the wind fanning his lashes, he rested his fingers behind his head, the raindrops kissed his exposed face insistently. His bleeding nose had stopped, he shouldn't have cursed at Yuffie, she had come running after him when he left the house and kicked his nose. So that was it, he told her about what he did and that's what she did. He felt a fit of laughter wanting to escape his mouth, he smirked, he bit his fist, trying to stop the cruel laughter getting out. The rain poured like buckets down on his red hair, he arrived at the apartment. As he opened the door, Elena and Rude were sitting at the table, drinking coffee and reading the newspaper. They ignored his presence, still fussed about what he had done, Reno ignored them as well and retreated to his room. He took out his crushed cigarette packet again and a bottle of vodka. He lit the cigarette and took a swig of the clear liquid. He then inhaled the fag deeply.

"Tonight I'm getting intoxicated baby," he said stupidly to himself, knocking back the vodka as if it were spring water.

**Note: Ok, so basically now that Reno's told Yuffie the truth, she's kicked his ass around! So now he's drinking and smoking just to fill the emptiness inside him. I'm just too mean!!! BWAHAHAHAHAHA!!! *gets shot***


	5. Chapter 5

**Chapter 5: Finding hope**

Yuffie still sat mournfully on the fluffy beige carpet, the heavy rain banged against the window and the wind howled, she stared at into space, tears smudged her pink cheeks. Her brown eyes glistened in the now dark room, she shut them, more tears streamed down her cheeks and stained the carpet. She couldn't believe it, her heart was shattered into a million pieces like the ornament on the floor, she picked up the pieces, each pricked her hand sharply, feeling the malicious sting in her hand she examined it. Little beads of blood had appeared on her hand, she picked up the last few pieces of broken glass and walked slowly down the stairs into the kitchen. When she had fired the broken pieces in the bin, she searched the cupboard for her first aid kit, finally finding it, she opened it up and took out an antiseptic and a plaster. Yuffie dabbed at the cut and placed the plaster carefully over her stinging cut, after she did that she went back upstairs and lay on her bed, tears pouring out from her eyes again, she buried her tear-stained face into the fluffy pillow; not understanding why Reno did that, maybe he was just using her. But he showed a great concern and love for Yuffie when she was seriously injured in hospital, but that didn't explain why he did that, have sex with that woman in the Shinra company. Yuffie eventually fell asleep with a vast amount of questions circling her head, the questions got brushed aside as she drifted into a vivid dream.

The dull morning next day wasn't a good wake up call, Yuffie groaned as she looked out the window, the rain poured heavily like a waterfall. This week wasn't going to be sunny after all, so much for the beach. She picked up a discarded notebook that Yuffie left hidden in her cabinet. She opened it up, reading some notes. God, she had this since she was five years old, her writing was big and her grammar was terrible. But as she flicked through the pages, her writing got neater and smaller as she reached the pages where she had turned twelve years old, ever since she turned twelve her writing was much nicer. She kept flicking through until she reached a blank page, that was the end of her notes, this was when she was about sixteen. Yuffie settled the notebook down on the bed, she took out her ballpoint pen and scribbled down a note: _Yesterday Reno tells me a secret, after hearing it, I think he's an unfaithful bastard! I hate him! He's a fecker!_

She wrote down three exclamation marks behind "fecker" practically stabbing the page, she was so furious that she pressed down on the pen so hard that it smudged the page. She snapped the book shut, putting it back into her cabinet, she remembered a note she wrote in the book, she remembered she use to teach the younger children Wushu, she smiled as she thought about it. Maybe she could teach Kairi Wushu, it could be fun, at least it'll take her mind off things like worthless bastards like Reno. Yuffie picked up her mobile and called Kairi, asking her to meet her at four o'clock in Sector 8, she also told her if she wanted to know how to do Wushu. Kairi couldn't say no, she was excited about the offer and thanked Yuffie, then they both hung up.

At four o'clock, Yuffie waited in the cold breeze in Sector 8, but felt relieved all the same that Reno hadn't showed up anywhere. Kairi arrived, red in the face, out of breath. Yuffie waved happily, running up to Kairi, Kairi grinned sheepishly.

"Sorry I'm a bit late, I got caught up with Sora pestering me with helping him do his homework," said Kairi, rolling her eyes, "he never wants to do it himself, so I gave him my homework to copy and left the house as quickly as I could, so are we gonna start?" Kairi asked eagerly, her little hands covered in a fluffy white glove. Yuffie nodded in agreement, she told Kairi to stand back as she showed her a kick that they used in Wushu, Kairi beamed impressively, she wanted Yuffie to show her more attacks in Wushu, after Yuffie showed Kairi a few attacks in Wushu, she encouraged Kairi to try some of the easier done attacks. After an hour, Kairi had learned the kick, she laughed triumphantly and punched the air.

"I can now finally beat Riku up if he tries to tease me again about me in love with my Geography teacher, and Sora if he takes my comb!" said Kairi evilly, rubbing her hands together in mock serial killer mode. Yuffie giggled with Kairi, Kairi looked at her watch.

"Ah well, I better go, my mom would be wondering where I am, see you soon Yuff! Thanks for the Wushu lesson, can we do it again tomorrow or the next day?" Kairi asked keenly, Yuffie nodded, laughing a little. She bid goodbye to Kairi as she disappeared into the distance, Yuffie looked around, not knowing what to do or where to go. She decided to go to the pub, which was closed but she felt a bit happier around there. Yuffie arrived at the pub, she looked in through the stained glass window, the pub was eerie looking when it was empty, Yuffie smiled, thinking of how lucky Natasha was to be getting married in June. At least things turned out right for her in the end, Yuffie felt someone watching her she turned around and got a huge fright. It was a heavily drunken Reno.

"Hey baby, what brings you around an empty pub? You look so lonely," he slurred, clutching a bottle of Brandy.

"None of your business you drunken bastard!" she snapped, taking a step away from the pub. Reno took a step closer.

"Aw c'mon, gimme a kiss baby," he pleaded intoxicatingly, getting closer to her.

"No way! I hate you!" Yuffie said sharply, backing away from him, he grabbed her arm and pulled her close to him. His lips touched hers as he planted a drunken kiss on her, she tried to pull away from him, she hated the taste of the alcohol on his lips. Yuffie kicked him in the shin, he groaned and clutched his shin. Yuffie stood there, infuriated with him.

"Don't you dare kiss me! Not unless you sober up! Even then I doubt I'll even look at you!" she spat savagely, Reno smirked at her.

"Do what you want babe, I'll be sure to look at _you_ whenever you pass my way," he replied.

"I'm never going to pass your way, just leave me alone!" Yuffie shouted, she ran from him all the way back to her house, where she threw herself down full force on her bed, tears running down her cheeks again. As if she didn't half cry all the time, she hated feeling this emptiness inside her. _Why _did he do that to her? Why did he hurt her so? Nothing answered these never-ending questions, it all boiled down to one thing, but what was more acceptable? Kissing him or hating his guts? Not even this answered the questions that circled her head, but she felt that kissing him was more satisfying, Yuffie punched her stomach.

_No, he betrayed your trust in him, you can't love anything he did to you, it was lust! That's all it was! So forget him, forget all about him…_

Yuffie understood this and stopped the crying immediately, this was the answer. Just forget him, everyone would give her the same answer anyways, he wasn't worth a second thought. Yuffie got up from the bed and went downstairs to make a cup of coffee for herself, thinking it might calm her nerves. She looked out at the wet, unsteady weather, a vague mist appeared in the distance, it covered the buildings of Sector 8, at least now Reno probably wouldn't be able to see anything.

*******************************************

Elena fixed her newly perm hair into a ponytail, Elaine had perm Elena's hair to see what it looks like curly since Elena had recently become her friend after a big apology over the troubles she caused when she was in the Turks. Violet watched in the background, wanting to leave her hair naturally straight, she looked at Elena's hairstyle.

"It looks lovely on you, so your hair was very short before?" Violet asked curiously, Elena nodded.

"Yeah, but I like it a bit long, or maybe I'll cut it back the way it was, what do you think?" Elena asked, not really able to decide what she wanted. Elaine thought hard, Violet giggled.

"I think you should keep your hair the way it is _now_, it looks lovely, and when you feel you like it shorter, then get it cut, that's my idea," said Elaine, putting the comb and GHD back in her bag.

"Good point, I'm so glad we can stop all this being enemies crap, I'm so glad we quit the Turks, I've made so many new friends!" said Elena happily, indicating a blushing Violet sitting on the bedside.

"Aww, that's so sweet! I'm glad I became friends with you too! You're so silly sometimes! You remind me of my dopey little brother, but he's very sweet even though he's a little naïve!" said Violet spluttering with laughter.

"Is your brother that Sora fellow? I think he's _sooo_ cute! The cute blue eyes and dark brown hair, awww I wish I had a brother like that! Then I could make a big fuss of him!" said Elena enthusiastically, Violet laughed again.

"You do that to Sora and he'll attack you with his Keyblade for invading his personal bubble! And also ruining his "reputation"" said Violet doing quotation marks with her fingers, "not to mention the time Riku got a puberty spot on his nose, he was so embarrassed to show it to people that he used his sister's foundation to cover it up, Sora noticed it was make-up and asked Riku why he put it on. Riku told him it was cool to put foundation on your nose, Sora believed him and put some on his own nose, he went over to these really "cool" people and they thought Sora was weird. After that Riku told him that he had a spot on his nose and that that's why he put the foundation on his nose, Sora felt humiliated, he then told Riku that he just went and embarrassed himself in front of these cool guys! I felt so sorry for Sora afterwards, but it was really funny!" said Violet, bursting out in fits of laughter, along with Elaine and Elena.

"Aww, poor little Sora!" said Elaine, her eyes streaming with tears of laughter. Elena fell off the chair after laughing so much, the bang was so loud that Rude suddenly went:"What's going on in there?" he called from the kitchen, Elena giggled.

"I fell off the chair!" she answered stupidly.

"Oh," Rude responded flatly, they then heard clatters of plates and forks.

"What are _you_ doing then?" she asked him from the room.

"I've just knocked the plates and the forks in a heap in the sink, I'll gather them up now," he mumbled gruffly, more clatters were heard as he removed the plates away from the forks and gathered them up into the cabinet.

Violet and Elaine shrugged and Elaine begged Violet to let her do her hair, or put make-up on her face. After a few more pleads from Elaine, Violet gave in and said she could put a bit of make-up on her face.

"Just to please you," Violet answered as Elaine scraped back Violets hair so that it wouldn't be in the way of her face.

"But I'm studying to be a beautician, can I do a gothic look on you?" Elaine asked, since she was a Goth herself.

"In your dreams! I'm not getting a Goth look!" said Violet sounding very shocked. Elaine shrugged and started doing Violet's make up.

"Ouch! That's my eye Elaine!" said Violet.

"If you hold still I wouldn't poke your eye," Elaine responded coolly.

"Looks great," said Elena when Elaine had finished, Violet looked at her reflection in the mirror.

"Hey, you did a great job!" Violet thanked her happily, admiring the work she did.

"Just call me the Make-up artist!" said Elaine grinning, doing an embarrassingly funny pose.

At that precise moment, Reno had appeared into the room, Elaine froze, the embarrassing pose still on display. Reno looked at the three of them confusingly, his hand clutching his forehead.

"What are you guys up to?" he grumbled lazily, his eyes red and bloodshot.

"Just…messing around with make up," Elena replied, twiddling her thumbs, Reno glanced at the three of them and then left the room. Elaine stood sheepishly behind the chair in which Violet was still sitting on. She turned to look at Elaine.

"You Ok?" she asked her.

"No, I'm utterly embarrassed!" Elaine answered, red blotches appearing on her cheeks. Violet spluttered.

"What's so funny?" Elaine asked hotly.

"Honestly Elaine, you're a fool! But you're our fool!" said Violet, tickling Elaine on the stomach, Elena joined in, they both tickled Elaine mercilessly, she shrieked with laughter and they all fell in a heap on the floor. Giggling and rolling over. Elaine got up off the ground and fired a cushion on Violet's head. Violet complained jokingly, she picked up Elaine's powder and threw some on Elaine's head. Elena smiled as she watched them both attack each other continuously with powders and pillows. In the end, they collapsed again on the floor, covered in cotton and powder, Elena looked at the two of them.

"Better now?" she asked them. They both nodded.

"I win!" said Elaine, suddenly full of energy.

"Did not, I won you goose!" said Violet, scrambling up off the floor, she poked Elaine in the stomach playfully.

"Ah well, so, any news?" Elaine asked, looking from Violet to Elena.

"Only one unbelievable story!" Elena muttered angrily, Elaine and Violet looked at her.

"What is it then?" Violet asked her, taking another glance at the make up on her face in the mirror, she got some tissue and wiped it off quickly.

"Aww, it looked lovely on you!" said Elaine, Violet smiled at her to show that she appreciated the work she'd done, "so you were saying then Elena?"

Elena breathed in deeply, she told them about Reno, she kept her voice low so he wouldn't hear them, after the story, Elaine's mouth was hung wide open, Violet's big blue eyes were shock-filled.

"Unfaithful f***ing c**t!" cursed Elaine under her breath, Violet shook her head.

"But why? Why did he do that the bastard!" Violet hissed, Elena shook her head, she glanced at the wall, her hands on her hips.

"Maybe he didn't actually care for Yuffie," Elena responded sourly.

"But he seemed so _concerned_ when she was seriously injured by Ansem," said Violet, unable to believe the story.

"Yeah, but c'mon, you wouldn't do that if you truly loved someone right?" said Elaine, Violet looked down at the ground.

"Poor Yuff," she mumbled.

"She could find another man much better than him anyways! Especially one with a sense of style and _brains_ who wouldn't go and betray her!" said Elena angrily, almost tearing the cushion in two.

"I suppose your right," said Violet and she didn't answer after that. They all sat in the room, Elaine started to tell them horror stories to keep their mood up (her little sister likes watching horror films and she's only 9!) The rain hadn't eased, the droplets became like hard stones hitting against the porcelain window. Not a really good weather to boost one's mood.

*****************************************************************************

Two cups, three cups, the coffee still hadn't calmed Yuffie's nerves. She paced up and down the hallway, not knowing what to do. She thought of Renvia, how lonely she probably is now that Yuffie is staying in Midgar, but since she doesn't have work for two glorious weeks, what's stopping her just popping over to Wutai for a while. Yuffie grinned to herself and text Violet to tell everyone that she's going to Wutai for five days, just in case anyone called around and find that she's not there. Yuffie grabbed some of her clothes and stuffed them into her bag, she locked the door when she went out, her heavy rainproof jacket clasped tightly around her body, Yuffie then left the house standing in the rain, she headed for the train station in Sector 7, hoping Wutai wouldn't have any rain today, she paid for her ticket and jumped on the train, in five minutes, she would be leaving the wet streets of Midgar.

Wutai was dry, but cloudy, Yuffie sighed. It signalled that rain was on its way, Yuffie hopped off the train and walked through the familiar town, the strip pub was visible from where she stood. She frowned, never wanting to step anywhere near it again, she continued past it. The wooden bridge where the Flerras huddled against it was just a metre away from Yuffie, she smiled, home again. Her boots tapped against the wooden bridge, the Flerras heads danced in the breeze, the way their heads moved made Yuffie think of the people of Wutai waving at their hero, she stopped to admire the beautiful flowers. Her mother's face was clear now, the time she was looking at the flowers with her mother appeared again, the clear image circling her head. Yuffie held back the tears, she forgot about the image of her mother when she reached her house, she couldn't wait to see Renvia again. Yuffie ran into the house and called out for her, no answer. She found a note on the counter in the marble kitchen, Yuffie snatched it up quickly and scanned through it.

_Dear Miss Yuffie or Master Godo,_

_I'm visiting my family in Nibelheim, I shall be staying there for a week, my regards to when you come back from your important business Master Godo, the people of Wutai are trusting you to help them. Princess Yuffie, if you are reading this, I hope you are in great health, I apologise for leaving on such short notice. I will see you in a week, may god bless you and your family._

_Love always, _

_Renvia_

Yuffie sighed, now she was going to be alone in a house again, being the princess of Wutai wasn't fun after all. But she also realised that Renvia had a family to go to, she smiled and threw her bag down on the glass floor, her house was very big and since she stayed in a small one back in Midgar, her actual large home didn't really feel like _home_. Yuffie observed the porcelain dolls all stacked up in a line on the wooden shelf. She fingered them carefully, she used to adore them when she was little, now she had grown out of them, but as she lifted her favourite one off the shelf, she felt like a little kid again. She made the doll do a little tap dance, and then placed it back on the shelf. Yuffie wandered the lonely house, the windows creaked a bit, but it didn't bother her. She went into her room, the red curtains were drawn back, her room was much bigger than an ordinary little girly bedroom, she would have much preferred it to be a small girly room, not a big uncomfortable one. Yuffie stroked the velvet quilt on her bed, she lay on it, smelling the lavender scent from it. She fell asleep on it, feeling the lavender calm her brain and body.

**************************************************************

Violet read the text message that Yuffie sent her, Elena and Elaine had just fallen off the bed after playing Last Card, the cards cascaded off the side of the bed, falling right on top of their heads. Violet quickly told them to get up and she showed them the text message.

"Oh yay! She's back in Wutai, her servant will be happy to see her! Renvia and Yuffie get on so well," said Elaine, scraping the cards off her head and shuffling them. Elena smiled.

"Hopefully she might meet a guy _there!_" she said excitedly, Violet shushed her, too late for quietness, Reno had already heard. He glared at Violet.

"You didn't want me to know where she was hmm?" he asked, the anger bottled up inside him was ready to burst.

"Ehh…," Violet's voice faded off, she didn't know what else to say.

"So Elena told you then?" Reno asked angrily.

"Well, it was for a good cause, you should learn to keep your tackle in your trousers you nut!" said Elena rudely.

"And for that, you tell the whole world!" he snapped.

"Don't exaggerate! I just told Elaine and Violet, if they're the whole world then the world must be a very tiny place!" she said mockingly.

"Even though I did that, it's not too late for me to set things right is it?" said Reno sharply.

"I suppose not, but what makes you think she's gonna want to forgive you for what you did?" Elaine asked, folding her arms.

"I dunno, but I'm still gonna apologise to her, it's the least I can do," he answered sadly, Elena raised an eyebrow.

"Do you even know where Yuffie lives?" she asked.

"She lives in Wutai, that's all I know," said Reno, losing hope, Violet sighed but felt sorry for him, she wrote down the address and handed it to Reno. She smiled.

"Go get her tiger!" she said, laughing a little. Reno smiled at her.

"Thanks, tell Sora I said hi," said Reno, exiting the room. Elena looked at Violet.

"What did you do that for?" she asked her shockingly. Violet smirked.

"Hey, I'm just doing Yuffie a favour," said Violet suspiciously, Elena and Elaine looked at each other.

"What d'ya mean? Oh…you don't mean-"

"Yes…I still believe Yuffie loves Reno, and that's why I gave him the address…hopefully they would be able to work things out," said Violet forlornly. Elena and Elaine nodded, both looked a bit doubtful about the situation. All they could do now was hold hands and pray for the best, or in Elaine's case, tell more horror stories.


	6. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6: Assassins at the Ball**

A long, winding driveway led to the house, the wooden bridge moist with the rain. As Reno crossed the bridge, he spotted the Flerras lying abundantly across the wet, shiny grass. His shoes plodded on the hard, soaked ground, he clutched the piece of paper with Yuffie's address scribbled on it in his hand and shoved it into his pocket. Reno stopped halfway towards the huge house, the heavy raindrops hitting his exposed face, the weather in Wutai was getting worse by the minute. The lights were on upstairs, Reno could make out an outlined figure behind the drawn curtains, he smirked. Perhaps he could make an uninvited entry, since there was no way of asking to come in without another kick in the face. Reno went around the back, there was an orchard wall just below a window that probably led to the bathroom, the vines grew wildly around the orchard wall, making it climbable. Reno grasped one of the vines and started slowly climbing up to the window, he grabbed the edge of the window sill and pulled himself up, his hands started finding a way of opening the window, he dug his fingers on the bent edge of the window. Thankfully, it wasn't locked, he opened it with ease, careful not to make a sound. Reno stepped into a huge bathroom, the sinks were gold in colour, the tiles were marble stained glass, he smiled, amazed at the beautifully furnished bathroom. But now he was tracking another beautiful jewel, Yuffie was probably in her room by the looks of the figure in the window. He opened the door cautiously, the house seemed empty, he heard someone in the room down the long hallway. He smiled to himself as he made his way down the hallway to the room; he peeked in the keyhole, it was Yuffie's room and there was Yuffie, still in her black outfit, looking out the window at the depressing weather.

Yuffie huddled in the corner, watching the droplets of rain stream down against the window, she counted each drop endlessly, feeling bored. The room was slightly dim since she had her night-light on, she focused her attention on the night-light instead, finding it more amusing than the depressing rain. She sighed heavily, Yuffie was in a deep pensive mood that she didn't hear her bedroom door open with the slightest creak, Reno found himself in a lucky position as she didn't twitch. He walked slowly over to her, and placed his hands on her shoulder. Yuffie jumped, startled by the sudden warm touch on her shoulder. She quickly turned around to find a stupid smirk on a familiar red head's face. Yuffie tried to punch him but he grabbed her wrists and held them firmly in a position where she wouldn't be able to even touch his face. Reno pushed her against the wall, her back digging deep into the hard surface.

"Yuffie listen to me!" he pleaded, Yuffie struggled to break free.

"I don't want to listen to you!" she shouted, turning her head away from him.

Reno put his hand under her chin and pulled her head facing back at his. "I want you to listen to me," He repeated softly, Yuffie felt a pang in her heart, her eyes filling with tears. "Please…" he pleaded helplessly.

"OK…say what were you going to say," Yuffie whispered, the tears prickling her eyes.

"Yuff, I love you so much, I'd die for you…you know I would, I just can't explain or find the answer to why I did that f***ing thing," he said truthfully, Yuffie listened, waiting for more to come. Reno drew out a breath. "I just can't find any trace of you forgiving me…but I just need to let you know that I love you Yuff, I wanna be with you for the rest of my life and I truly am sorry," he said, his eyes filled with sorrow. Yuffie let the tears flow, she started crying.

"Oh Reno! I can't stay like this!…It hurts too much! I love you too! I love you so much, Reno!" she cried out, hugging him closely, she cried onto his chest, the tears staining his shirt. They both stood there, comforting each other as the sound of the rain soothed their souls, it felt like an hour had just flown by, Yuffie's eyes were red after the crying. Reno kissed the top of her head. "Don't cry Yuff, it makes me feel bad, like I've really hurt you…" he said. Yuffie looked up at him. "You have…" she answered wearily, Reno chuckled. "Yeah I suppose I did," he said, Yuffie giggled quietly, nestling up to him. Reno raised her head up close to him, their lips almost brushing against each other.

"I love you Yuff…" Reno said quietly, his eyes looking straight into hers.

"Even more than a sexy woman?" she asked idiotically and teasingly. Reno laughed suspiciously.

"You _are_ a sexy woman you nut," he answered, kissing her lips passionately. Yuffie enjoyed the feeling of his lips against hers, she stopped to catch her breath and then kissed him back hungrily, Reno slipped off the jacket around Yuffie, it fell in a crumpled heap on the floor, he kissed her neck lovingly, moving down to her collarbone. Yuffie unbuttoned his shirt and lifted it over his shoulders, likewise with the jacket, she placed her hands on his bare shoulders, tightening her grip on them. Reno's hands wandered over to her black shirt, he lifted it over her head, revealing her black bra. His hands stroked her bare stomach, as one slipped around at the back and started to undo her bra. Yuffie decided she was ready, she allowed the bra to slide from her shoulders, Yuffie suddenly panicked, not sure he would like what he sees underneath the bra, she shook the thought away and removed the bra from her. Reno smiled at the view, he began kissing her neck all the way down to her breasts, Yuffie felt tense, the feeling of it was weakening her, his hands had taken the place of where his mouth used to be and he began touching them affectionately. Yuffie held her breath, the feeling was so intense, she placed her cheek on his the top of his lank, spiky hair. Reno stopped a short time after and removed his trousers and underwear, the same went for Yuffie. After this, Yuffie then became aware of her bare body around Reno, she suddenly became embarrassed.

_What's there to be embarrassed of? It's only natural, now let's stop wasting time and let the fireworks explode! _

Yuffie smiled, it was the first time her brain actually made some sense, it was natural, what was there to be embarrassed about. Yuffie lay down beside Reno, he lifted his bare body onto Yuffie's.

"Are you scared?" he asked her, feeling concerned.

"A little, it's my first time," said Yuffie, blushing red.

"Don't worry, it'll be ok, trust me," he said as he brought himself into her, the rain still banged against the window, but neither took any notice of the irritating sound that came from the dreadful weather. The night seemed long, but Yuffie didn't mind it one bit, since she was in, after all, good company.

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A ray of sunlight shone upon the creased sheets, Yuffie lay asleep in a weird angle, her bare leg sticking out of the blanket, her black hair in a mess resting on the pillow. Yuffie frowned, a pain in her head hit her the very first thing in the morning, she clutched her forehead. Yuffie sat up, dazing a bit as she thought of what happened last night, she imagined it so vividly. Yuffie turned her head to find the red head sleeping comfortably beside her, the blankets covering his waist. Yuffie blushed as she noticed that he was still naked, she quickly got out of bed and picked up her crumpled up clothes, which had lain on the floor all night. She entered the bathroom to have a quick shower before dressing up, she felt refreshed as the warm water from the shower drenched her body and face. Yuffie towelled herself dry and put on her clothes, she exited the bathroom fifteen minutes after and found a frowning Reno, scratching his head as he looked around, still half asleep. Yuffie grinned blissfully.

"Mornin' Reno!!!" she called abruptly, doing a running jump on top of Reno, she wrapped his arms around him, giving him an amorous hug.

"What an excellent wake up call!" he said, grinning cheekily, kissing Yuffie affectionately. Yuffie shrieked with laughter.

"Ew! How about getting dressed first! Nude man!" she said flippantly, Reno smirked.

"And what's a better way to start the morning?" he answered humorously, causing Yuffie to chuckle constantly.

"First of all you can start by washing your mouth, and secondly, get dressed," said Yuffie, poking Reno's exposed chest.

"As you wish…_your highness_," said Reno, indicating that he knew she was a princess.

"How did you-"

"I spotted one of the photographs on the wall, it said _"The Royal Family of Wutai_" and I saw a familiar little girl, gods Yuffie you were _tiny_!" said Reno light-heartedly, ruffling Yuffie's hair.

"Hey I was only six at the time, I couldn't help being so small, not that I'm any bigger now," said Yuffie disgustedly, looking at her small body.

"You're just normal sized for a lady, I prefer you this way, you're so cute," said Reno tenderly. Yuffie giggled.

"You flatterer," she said, blushing pink.

"Hey, is this your mother?" he said, noticing the small photograph on the cabinet beside him.

"Yeah, that's her," said Yuffie softly, staring at the photo.

"She's beautiful, like you, you look a lot like her," said Reno.

"Rubbish! I have my dad's ears! Well, I suppose that's one thing I have on him, and these very dark brown eyes as well, my mother had light brown," said Yuffie, peering at the photo.

"So, that's only two things like your dad, you look mostly like your mom," said Reno insistently.

"I suppose your right," Yuffie replied, sighing heavily. She missed her mother dearly.

"I'll just go get dressed then, no peeking!" said Reno teasingly, tapping Yuffie's nose.

"Hey, I've seen you in the nude! This time isn't gonna be any different!" said Yuffie, but obeyed happily.

When Reno had gotten dressed, the two lovers went downstairs into the kitchen.

"You hungry?" Yuffie asked curiously, Reno shook his head.

"Nah, I don't really want to eat anything," said Reno.

"Aw c'mon, how about just a slice of toast? I'm having toast anyways," said Yuffie pleadingly.

"Ok then, if you insist," said Reno.

Yuffie put two slices of toast in the toaster and went to fetch the mail, she flipped through them, most of them were bills, she found one interestingly different one, she grabbed the knife and opened it eagerly. She scanned through it, she dropped the knife suddenly, her eyes filled with worry.

"No…" she whispered horrifyingly, "NO!" she cried, shaking uncontrollably. Reno got up quickly from the table and rushed over to Yuffie. "What? What's happened?" he asked anxiously.

"How…could they?" she said, biting her thumb. "It's a letter from Renvia, she's warning me about these men from Nibelheim, they're out to kill my father, and my father's holding a ball and everyone in Gaia is invited! That's the good part, but the bad thing is that's exactly where they're gonna be! I have to be there to protect my father," Yuffie turned to Reno, "will you come with me?"

"Yuffie, you know if anyone sees me, they're gonna go berserk, I used to be a Turk remember," said Reno sadly.

"I could disguise you, you could wear a mask! Please, I need to help my father," said Yuffie desperately.

"Well…ok, for you Yuffie," said Reno, hugging Yuffie. Yuffie smiled at him gratefully, she went and took the toast out of the toaster and buttered each of them.

They ate in silence, Yuffie still glanced nervously at the letter. Reno patted her shoulder sympathetically. Yuffie looked up at him, sadness filling her eyes.

"So when's this ball thing?" said Reno, Yuffie picked up the letter and read through it again.

"It's tomorrow," she said.

"Better find something to wear," Reno mumbled, he grinned at Yuffie cheekily, "let's hope you impress me and dress into something sexy!" he joked.

"Reno! You've a dirty mind!" she said shockingly, but smiled all the same. She got up from the table and smiled back at him slyly, "but I'm sure I'll fork _something_ out!"

"I'll welcome it with open arms," said Reno happily.

"More like groping hands!" Yuffie responded humorously. Reno chortled.

"Fair enough, I hope Elena and Rude won't worry about me, what am I saying? Why would they worry about me!" said Reno.

"I shouldn't think so," said Yuffie confidently, "so, you gonna meet me tomorrow at around, six o'clock, just to get ready for the party, it's at eight," she said.

"Yup, I wouldn't miss it for the world," said Reno, kissing Yuffie's lips tenderly. She wrapped her arms around his neck and hung on to him, enjoying the sweet kiss. Reno, becoming a bit too aroused, slipped his hand slowly up Yuffie's shirt (silly Yuffie forgot to put her bra on! Surprise, surprise!) and touched one of Yuffie's breasts desirably, his warm touch made Yuffie startled a bit, he tightened his grip a bit, causing Yuffie to gasp, she broke away from him violently.

"I think that's enough excitement for one day," she said breathlessly, feeling hot and trembling all over.

"Yeah, but it felt so good," said Reno gasping for breath, Yuffie smiled, and put one finger under his chin.

"You're such a charmer Turk-boy," she said slyly, she giggled at the look on his face, "I'm joking Reno, don't worry, I'm not a slag like that Scarlet…oh, sorry, I didn't mean to mention her name-"

"It's ok, she _is _a slag anyways, you should have seen the underwear she was wearing, for god's sake," said Reno disgustedly.

"Oh, right, thongs, I get the picture! My cousin wears them, she's such a little tart sometimes," said Yuffie, rolling her eyes in exasperation. Reno laughed quietly, he stroked Yuffie's face. "Well, _you're_ such a pie sometimes," he joked goofily.

"Oh ha, ha," said Yuffie giggling, she prodded Reno's arm with her finger, "Well you're a muffin!"

"Ah, a muffin, my favourite!" said Reno, putting his hand on his chest in a joke fashion.

Reno left the house two hours after, he gave Yuffie one last wondrous kiss and left the lovely big house, Yuffie watched Reno disappear into the distance, she suddenly felt lonely again. She entered the lonely house, the place seemed eerily quiet without the red-headed fool to live things up. She reflected back on last night.

_His touch…so soft… _She blushed red at the thought of where he touched her, her pulse pounding in her neck, she clasped her hands together in a sort of praying gesture, her fingers closing down beside each other. She prayed for her father's safety, she hoped she would meet him tomorrow, Yuffie read the letter again and gasped. She had to make a speech in front of everyone, being the Princess of Wutai and everything, this was what she had to do. Yuffie decided to call all her friends and tell them if they could come to the ball, she needed all the help she could get. Hopefully the assassins won't get to her father, the last person, which was Sora, was excited about the ball that he couldn't say yes any faster. Yuffie said thanks to Sora and put the phone down, she blew out relieved with them all coming to help, she looked up at the dark sky.

"Don't worry father, I will protect you and the citizens of Wutai…I promise," she said and she left the kitchen and headed upstairs to pick out her outfit for the ball. Renvia said she was coming tomorrow to get ready for the ball, so Yuffie shouldn't be lonely tomorrow, this time, things started getting serious, Yuffie started to feel scared. Were her dreams good? Or were they turning into a nightmare?

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The room was dark, the crystal chandelier hung beautifully upon the ceiling, Yuffie fixed her hair in a bun, it had grown a bit long, long enough to be able to tie it in a little bun. She placed a silver flowered clip into her hair, holding the bun in place with the green velvet ribbon. Yuffie opened her eyes, staring at her reflection in the mirror, she looked anxious. Her lips were red with the lipstick she wore, she had a midnight blue-black dress on her with a slit on one side, it was beautifully embroidered with silver flower patterns. It showed a bit of cleavage, her arms were free and she wore matching gloves. Renvia entered Yuffie's room, she wore a red dress, with a maroon cardigan draped around her, the dress suited her a lot. Her long reddish-brown hair was tied in a ponytail, she looked at Yuffie.

"You look lovely tonight, Miss Kisaragi," said Renvia softly, Yuffie smiled weakly.

"Thank you, Renvia, you look lovely too," she said kindly, Renvia smiled appreciatively, she searched for something in her pocket, she fished out two elegant diamond earrings, silver in colour with a tint of pink and handed them to Yuffie.

"This was your mothers', she wore them when she went to a ball with Godo, he thought that you'd like to have them now," said Renvia, placing the earrings in Yuffie's hand, Yuffie smiled and tears ran down her cheeks.

"They're lovely!" she exclaimed happily, hugging Renvia, there was a knock on the door and Yuffie dried her eyes quickly.

"That must be Reno, are you ready Renvia?" said Yuffie getting up from her seat after another glance in the mirror at her outfit and hair. She walked gracefully down the stairs along with Renvia, she opened the door and found Reno standing at the door, he wore a black suit, his hair was still lank and messy thought. Yuffie smiled at him, he looked stricken when he saw Yuffie. She was beautiful tonight.

"Whoa…you look lovely tonight, er…I suppose I'm not really that impressive…" said Reno, Yuffie giggled and stroked his chin.

"I don't care what you look like, I love _you_ not your outfit, here, lemme give you a mask to borrow; we don't want anyone seeing you and then trouble stirring up," said Yuffie, bringing Reno into the sitting room where she kept all the masks locked up, she took out a rather dusty looking mask, she blew the dust off the mask. It was red and gold, embroidered with patterns of roses, Yuffie laughed at the look on Reno's face.

"It's only temporary, just for tonight," she laughed. Reno narrowed his eyes at Yuffie.

"Fine! But you owe me, babe," said Reno taking the mask and examining it, Yuffie shook her head.

"How many times- oh never mind! So, that's the only mask that I found that would fit you, so put it on and let's get going…Reno Babeno," said Yuffie, chuckling. Reno glared at her, still holding the mask.

"Oh, just you wait, Yuffie Kisaragi, you're definitely gonna owe me something tonight," said Reno threateningly, Yuffie laughed, knowing it was a joke.

"I'll welcome it with open arms," said Yuffie, mimicking what Reno had said not long ago about the outfit.

"Oh, it'll be more than open arms," he said suspiciously, Yuffie rolled her eyes and gave him a playful punch on the arm.

"Honestly Reno, you're a flatterer, c'mon, put that mask on and let's go!" Yuffie begged. Renvia waited in the hallway for Yuffie and Reno, by the time they exited the sitting room, it was half seven.

"It's a fifteen minute walk down to the Imperial Temple, c'mon let's go, Sora and the others will be there," said Yuffie walking out the door with Renvia and Reno, Renvia walked several steps behind them, not trusting to be anywhere near a former Turk member, she ignored Reno's presence and chatted to Yuffie. They reached the Imperial Temple at ten to eight, Yuffie entered the crowded building, she spotted Sora and the others clustered near a large fountain, Yuffie waved enthusiastically, Sora spotted her and ran over happily.

"Yuffie! You look great! C'mon, the rest are over by the fountain, we haven't spotted anyone suspicious yet," said Sora, looking around at the crowded room, a vein appearing on his forehead.

"That's good, have you seen my father anywhere?" she asked, Sora shook his head.

"Nope, but I…er…don't know what he looks like. I can always ask Cloud, he'll know," said Sora cheerily, he spotted Reno, Renvia stood further back from him.

"Hey Reno, you look…dashing," said Sora uncertainly, Reno hushed him.

"Don't say my name out loud! If anyone hears my name and recognises it, they're gonna know I'm from the Turks and things might get messy!" Reno warned, Sora clapped a hand over his mouth and looked around, hoping no one heard him. Yuffie stayed near Reno and Sora, she peered long and hard at the crowd in the room, none of them looked suspicious. Suddenly, the room was quiet and Yuffie looked up at the altar, her father was there with twelve bodyguards standing beside him and some behind him, Yuffie dragged Reno and Sora up the altar, her father spotted Yuffie and smiled happily.

"Yuffie-san, my daughter, welcome!" said Godo, hugging Yuffie closely. Yuffie grinned and introduced Reno and Sora to her father.

"Father, this is Sora, the great hero and Keyblade Master, the one that saved the worlds from the Heartless," said Yuffie proudly, pinching Sora's pink cheeks, Sora blushed shyly.

"Your majesty, I'm honoured to be here at your ball, sir," said Sora, the lessons that Kairi and Riku gave him about manners really paid off, Kairi and Riku smiled at each other from the crowd, happy that Sora remembered the things that they taught him.

"Aww, yes, the great Keyblade Master, my daughter has told me about you, I thank you for coming to the ball, please enjoy the evening," said Godo, bowing, Sora grinned broadly, bowing and then leaving the altar to join Kairi and the others. Reno stayed beside Yuffie, not knowing what to do, Yuffie looked at him.

"And this is my boyfriend, er…Jonathan, father, he accompanied me today in honour of meeting you," said Yuffie nervously, Reno bowed uncertainly. Godo nodded, impressed.

"So, you have taken an interest in my daughter," said Godo, smiling.

"Oh yes, your majesty, I wish to marry her soon enough if it is allowed by you," said Reno, putting on an English accent in order to disguise his voice.

"Why yes! Of course you can marry my daughter, how about we arrange the wedding for June? That was when my wife and I got married, on a warm summer's day, I would much prefer if Yuffie and yourself experience the same." Godo suggested, patting Reno's shoulder. (or in this case, Jonathan's shoulder!)

"It would be my pleasure, your majesty, if Yuffie would also agree?" said Reno, looking at Yuffie through the holes in the mask. Yuffie giggled.

"Of course, I'd love to get married on the same day my mother did, it's sounds wonderful," said Yuffie shyly, Godo laughed cheerily.

"Excellent! Now, I shall announce my entry to the people before you make your speech then Yuffie," said Godo, walking up to the microphone, he cleared his throat. "Citizens of Wutai, people of Gaia, and people of the foreign worlds! I welcome you today in the Imperial Temple, may the great Gods of Wutai shine down on us on this festive day, please enjoy the evening! I shall now pass this time on to my lovely daughter, Yuffie, the Princess of Wutai, she will now make her speech and after that, please, once again, enjoy the ball!" he announced merrily, the crowd clapped noisily, Yuffie spotted Hayner punching the air, accidentally punching Roxas in the chin, knocking him over. Roxas stood up and pushed Hayner, Olette told them to stop, Pence laughed away quietly. The crowd hushed as Yuffie stood at the altar, the microphone rested in front of her, Roxas and Hayner had forgotten that the crowd was quiet and they were heard arguing. They stopped in mid-sentence and went red, Yuffie giggled quietly, she cleared her throat.

"I'd like to welcome everyone to the ball, hopefully you are all having the time of your lives, I know I am. I have a few things to say before I let you all enjoy yourselves. Firstly, do not despise your enemies, cherish them for you may not know what they've been through in their lives, not all your enemies mean harm. You should not judge them for what others think of them, you find out for yourself and set things right, not everyone means to hurt, murder or destroy, I've learned that calming down and talking through the problem is a hell lot easier that smashing someone's head to the ground, making life worse for them and for yourself. All I'm saying is that, don't judge anyone before knowing them yourself, not from other people who've just heard things. Secondly, cheer for the Keyblade Master and enjoy!!!" she stated, the crowd turned to Sora and cheered for him, others hearing stories about the brave Keyblade Master who saved the worlds from the fate of the Heartless and Nobodies, Sora grinned embarrassedly, giving the crowd of people a little wave. Kairi giggled at Sora's embarrassment, Riku gave Sora a thumbs up, and Roxas, well, was cheering for Sora until Hayner had punched the air again and hit Roxas' chin as well. Yuffie smiled, but her smile quickly faded as she noticed a group of shady people lurking away from the crowd, their eyes fixed upon Godo and Yuffie. Yuffie bit her lip, Reno went over to her.

"Hey Yuff? You okay?" he whispered, Yuffie shook her head disapprovingly.

"No, there they are, I just know it could be them! Look!…Over there!" she said frightened by this whole thing happening, Reno looked over at the shady group, he wavered.

"I dunno, maybe we should - Yuff?…YUFF! Where the f**k are you going?" he hissed angrily as Yuffie made her way down the stairs of the altar, she turned to Reno.

"I know they're after my father, I'm not gonna let that happen…you stay here Reno and look after my father," she said sternly, "I'll be okay, don't worry about me…" she added after a worried look on Reno's face. She walked on, heading towards the suspicious group. She stopped, halfway away from them, they looked at her.

"Aww Miss Kisagari, Princess of Wutai, come, there are a few things we need to discuss," said the leader slyly, Yuffie frowned at him.

"Of course," said Yuffie flatly, the leader smirked and Yuffie and the group disappeared into a dark room which had a spiral staircase. They went up the stairs and it led into a computer room, a chair stood in the middle of the room. Yuffie sat down and the leader paced around behind her.

"Who are you?" Yuffie asked curiously.

"My name is Master Sin, I have come from Nibelheim in search of The Royal family of Wutai, I see I have been lucky enough as to stumble upon the Princess of Wutai," he said sneakily, Yuffie glared at him from the corner of her eye.

"What is it that you want, Master Sin?" said Yuffie hotly. Sin grinned in the dark.

"Revenge, my dear Princess, your father is the cause of Nibelheim's destruction, he deserved to pay for it, in death!" said Sin evilly, Yuffie gasped.

"My father is not the cause of Nibelheim's destruction! That was Meteor!" Yuffie exclaimed, turning to face Sin, who's smile had stretched.

"Rubbish! Your father was responsible for this! That is where you come into this, princess," Sin replied harshly.

"What?" she said.

"You shall lead your father to us, that is when he shall meet his doom!" Sin responded furiously.

"NO!" Yuffie shouted.

"You will do as I say! Otherwise you'll meet the very same fate! And we wouldn't want to hurt a pretty little thing such as yourself!" said Sin, placing a finger under Yuffie's chin and lifting her head up. "Now, go and bring Godo here." Suddenly they hear a voice from behind them.

"I don't think she's gonna do such a f***ing thing! So get your shit ass hands off of her!" said a familiar voice, Sin and Yuffie looked at the other end of the room.

"Reno!" Yuffie exclaimed happily. She got up and ran over to him, Reno held a bomb in one hand. Sin's eyes narrowed.

"What do you think you're doing?" he asked Reno suspiciously. Reno removed the mask and threw the bomb at Sin.

"In honour of Godo, your asses are toast! So I don't think you're gonna lay a finger on him after this!" Reno replied heatedly. Sin's eyes shot wide open.

"You're a Turk! You scum of the earth bastard!" Sin shouted, Reno grabbed Yuffie's hand and ran out of the room, heading down the spiral staircase, an explosion was heard, the stairs gave way and Reno and Yuffie stumbled down, crashing to the floor. Reno quickly scrambled to his feet with Yuffie in his arms, he exited the room with the spiral staircase and into the main room where the crowd were screaming in terror at the sound of the explosion, Yuffie looked around at the people panicking.

"Yuffie!" came the sudden call from Sora, along with Kairi and Riku.

"Sora! What's happening?" Yuffie asked him anxiously.

"There was a big explosion and everyone panicked!" Sora answered, Kairi looked at Yuffie. "Did you hear it?" she asked Yuffie.

"I was near the explosion!" said Yuffie, Kairi looked astonished. Yuffie told her the whole story, causing Kairi to worry even more.

"Yuffie you could've been killed!" said Riku crossly, Yuffie hung her head.

"Sorry, I just wanted to save my father, which I did anyway!" said Yuffie.

"Yeah, but you caused half the temple to get blown up!" said Sora, folding his arms across his chest.

"That wasn't me!" said Yuffie shockingly. Reno looked guilty.

"Actually, that was me," he confessed, Sora sniggered.

"You clumsy bastard! You should've seen the look on Cloud's face! He said if he found out who blew up half the temple he was gonna shove his Buster Sword up their ass!" said Sora, choking with laughter, Reno turned white.

"Oh god, if he finds that I'm here, he's gonna slit my throat!" said Reno, quickly putting on the mask. Kairi looked behind her, she squeaked. "Oh for god's sake Reno, here he comes, act natural! Act like Jonathan!" said Kairi hurriedly. Reno held his breath as Cloud walked up to them, waving with a big grin on his face, his other arm around Aerith. "Hey guys! You ok?" he asked them as he seen the worried expressions on their faces. Aerith looked at them. "We thought that you might have been near the explosion," she said.

"Oh no, Yuffie was though!" Sora blurted out, Yuffie stood on his toes. Sora yelped, Cloud stared at Yuffie and Reno.

"Are you Yuffie's boyfriend?" he asked him, not knowing that it was actual the red-headed Turkey in disguise (sorry about the turkey thing!).

"Er…yeah I am," said Reno with an English accent. Aerith smiled. "How cute," she said. Cloud turned to Yuffie. "So what was all this about you near the explosion?" he asked her confusingly.

"Wha? Oh…I wasn't near the explosion! Sora thought I was but I was actually away from it, talking to my relatives!" Yuffie burbled, Cloud nodded. "Oh well, I'll see you later then, bye!" said Cloud walking away with Aerith hanging onto his arm. When Cloud was further away from them, Barrett leaned in closer to Cloud and tapped him on the shoulder. Cloud turned his attention to him. "Did you notice something funny about that Jonathan dude?" Barrett asked him, his eyes fixed upon Reno. Cloud looked over Barrett's shoulder and peered at Reno, he nodded. "Yeah, who d'ya think it is?"

Barrett shook his head, but then gasped and jumped, causing Cloud to reel backwards in shock. Barrett pulled Cloud into a dark corner and spat out furiously. "Yo Cloud! It's that f**king shit head Turk!" he cursed. Cloud's eyes grew wide with shock, his teeth gritted. "Who…that bastard Reno?" said Cloud furiously, Barrett nodded. "What the hell's he doing with Yuffie? F**king tramp!" Cloud hissed savagely. Barrett felt anger build inside him, he was gonna kill the Turk!

"I can't believe I didn't see him on that day Yuffie was in hospital! Only Kairi, Riku and Sora went into the Ward where Yuffie was kept, after that, everyone left when they heard she was Ok, but I bloody didn't see him!" Cloud complained loudly. Barrett glared at Reno, he slammed his fist against the wall. "How about after the ball we confront him and make sure he won't be able to walk tomorrow!" said Barrett cruelly. Cloud hesitated.

"I dunno."

"He deserves it Cloud! He's nothing but a bloody Turk! We shouldn't let him hurt Yuffie!" Barrett hissed angrily, Cloud looked properly at him. "Ok then, let's do it!" Cloud agreed, Barrett patted him on the back.

"Good choice, c'mon, let's wait over with Aerith," said Barrett, dragging Cloud over to a lonely Aerith who stood waiting for them. Back where Sora, Kairi, Riku, Reno and Yuffie were, Sora started smiling happily to himself, staring over at Kairi.

"Ah, now I can finally dance with my love," murmured Sora, suddenly closing his eyes and pretending he was dancing with Kairi, Riku watched Sora with a bemused look on his face.

"Sora, what the hell are you doing?" Riku asked him abruptly, Sora froze in mid-dance. He turned around to face Riku, his face becoming beetroot-red, he looked around feeling mortified. He stood still, his mouth partially open.

"Ehhh…I was practising my dance steps!" said Sora hastily. Riku nodded.

"SUUURE you were! Or maybe you were just pretending to be dancing with Kairi!" said Riku, smiling broadly, Sora blushed.

"Ok, ok, I was. Happy!" said Sora moodily, Riku grinned and patted Sora's shoulder.

"I'm only messing, but it was good all the same that you were very open about yourself!" said Riku, laughing sunnily. Sora pouted, Kairi laughed and gave him a peck on the cheek. Sora turned absolutely scarlet after this. Yuffie giggled at Sora, along with Kairi. The night seemed short, but enjoyable, as the time came for everyone to leave; Yuffie snuggled up to Reno as Sora was being chased by crickets after throwing a stone at some of them in the tall grass. Sora said goodbye to Yuffie while he ran down the road, with the swarm of crickets after him, and Riku, Kairi and Violet running after Sora to try and get him away from the crickets. Yuffie smiled warmly, happy that she got to meet Sora and the others again, Renvia came up from behind Yuffie and Reno. She hung back nervously.

"Should I go back to Nibelheim, Miss Kisaragi?" Renvia asked nervously, Yuffie nodded, a concerned look appearing on her face.

"Of course you can Renvia, your family is waiting for you there, don't worry about me I'll be fine," said Yuffie insistently, Renvia looked at Reno and hesitated.

"Hey, she's gonna be ok, I'm with her, I'll take good care of her," said Reno reassuringly, Renvia nodded and bowed before leaving Yuffie in the company of Reno, Yuffie watched her trail off into the night, without another word spoken.

****************************************************************************************

Reno walked with Yuffie on the moonlit pavement, the sky pitch black now, he leaned in close to her, his mouth almost near her ear. "How about crashing down at my place in Midgar for the night?" he whispered into her ear, Yuffie turned pink.

"Um…ok, sure," she answered back shyly, Reno smiled. He gave her a little kiss on the cheek, and held her closely under his arm. Yuffie cuddled up to him, half-excited about staying at his place, she suddenly thought about Rude and Elena, she looked up at Reno.

"Hey, Reno?" she asked him eventually.

"Mmm?" he answered.

"Are Rude and Elena gonna be there? Since you guys all stay together in the same apartment," said Yuffie, a part of her hoping that they would have the place to themselves, knowing what two couples would get up to on their own…

"Nah, they're gonna go over to meet Tseng, just to see how he's getting on with the other Turk members there, I dunno why, but I'm glad they let us have the place to ourselves, it'll be fun," said Reno suspiciously. Yuffie's heart started thumping underneath her midnight blue-black dress.

_Oooh yes, what fun it'll be!!_

Oh god, Yuffie thought to herself. Her perverted brain found itself back into her head again, she knew the brain enhancement was a good idea after all. Yuffie tried to ignore it when they finally reached Midgar, Sector 8, she could see the apartment dead ahead. The lights switched off except for the dimmest bit of light in the far end of a window, Yuffie guessed it might have been Reno's room. Reno took out the keys for the apartment door, he unlocked it and allowed Yuffie to enter first, being a gentleman for once, thought Yuffie. Reno switched on the lights in the kitchen, it was warm and cosy, Yuffie slipped off her purple velvet jacket and hung it on the coat hanger.

"Do you want coffee or anything?" Reno asked her, switching on the kettle.

"Yes please, you havin' one yourself?" said Yuffie politely, Reno nodded, taking a seat and resting his feet on the spare chair beside him. Yuffie looked around at the kitchen, the brown counters spotless. Reno glanced at her, but only found himself staring at her luscious dress, how lovely she looked in it. Yuffie caught him staring and he quickly turned his head and took out his scrunched up packet of cigarettes, Yuffie stopped him.

"You're not suppose to smoke, remember?" she said, smiling cheekily at him. Reno smirked, taking his feet off the spare chair, and pulling Yuffie towards him. His hands caressing hers. "You're dead right, babe," he said, kissing her lusciously, dropping the packet of fags on the floor. The moment was ruined when the kettle stopped boiling, suddenly remembering that he had to make the coffee. They broke apart, Yuffie giggled as lipstick was smeared across Reno's lips, Reno wiped it off and looked at Yuffie. "You owe me more for that, sweet cheeks," said Reno jokingly, Yuffie spluttered with fits of laughter as Reno got up from the seat and went over to the boiling kettle, he grabbed two cups from the cabinet and placed them on the counter. After he had made the coffee he passed Yuffie's cup to her and sat down beside her. Yuffie was giggling so much that she couldn't drink her coffee properly. Reno stared at her.

"Gods Yuffie, it's as if invisible hands are tickling you, you're so giggly today," said Reno, but he couldn't help laughing himself. Yuffie let out a big sigh and sunk into Reno's arms, her coffee carefully balanced in her hands.

"Sorry, I just couldn't help it, I was in such good company," she said, resting her head on his chest, Reno beamed. They finished their coffee in silence, Reno got up and placed the two empty cups in the sink, he looked at Yuffie's surprised look. "I'll wash them later," he mumbled to her, Yuffie nodded. "Hey, how 'bout I show you my room while you're here," he added, pushing in his chair, Yuffie nodded eagerly. "Or is this some plan just to play naughty," she teased, Reno laughed. "Plan foiled yet again by the Princess of Wutai, I am not worthy!" he joked, drawing more chuckles from Yuffie, she followed him into his room, it was big enough, not as big as her old room back in Wutai but it still was a big enough for a bed and couple of other things to be thrown around. It was also quite messy. Reno frowned at the stuff. "Sorry about the mess, I just was so depressed when I moved in here with Elena and Rude that my shit's everywhere," he complained, grabbing a handful of his clothes. He turned to Yuffie, "you wouldn't mind helping me clear a bit would you?" he asked her.

"Oh no, I'll help, I don't mind," said Yuffie quickly, grabbing some clothes and books in her hands and placing them neatly upon the closet, she folded the clothes and shoved them inside the cabinets, not wanting to spot Reno's underwear in case she'll blush like a fool. After the room had been tidied, Yuffie plonked down on the bed with exhaustion, his room was so messy but now it was spick and span. She lay down, feeling the tiredness spread around her, she shut her eyes for one second. Yuffie then felt the bed creak, she opened her eyes to get a shock as she found two familiar blue eyes staring down at her dark brown ones. She jumped violently.

"Reno, you scared me!" said Yuffie, clutching her chest. Reno chuckled.

"Sorry 'bout that," he said flatly, Yuffie got up away from him and pretended to have a good peer through his books, Reno seemed to be enjoying the silence, it wasn't long before Yuffie felt a pair of hands rest themselves upon her hips, she froze. "Let's get comfortable, Yuffie," Reno breathed into her ear, he kissed her neck eagerly. Yuffie tilted her head back, letting Reno kiss her collarbone, his hands fondling the zip on the back of her dress. Her back becoming exposed as her dress was unzipped, Yuffie lay back on the bed, Reno leaned in closer to Yuffie, he removed his jacket, shirt and trousers, leaving him only in his underwear. He smiled at Yuffie. "You owe me, remember?" he said cheekily, Yuffie laughed and kissed him.

"Yeah, I remember," she responded, Reno kissed her lips amorously, she dug her fingers into his shoulders, the sensation weakening her. Reno slipped the dress fully off her, it lay beautifully on the side of the bed, it wasn't long before it slipped from the bedside to the fluffy carpet below. His hands wandered from her waist to her front, carefully touching her breasts, she let out a little gasp. The feeling of his warm touch made her tremble a bit, she stroked his pale cheek, his grip tightened a bit on her bust. He kissed them passionately, sweat appearing on his forehead, Yuffie removed her black underwear, likewise Reno, her knee jammed against his thigh, he groaned. "Oh god, sorry about that Reno! I just, suddenly got a little frightened, even though we had intercourse before I still just got a little bit scared there, because well, you know…it all happened so fast," said Yuffie quickly, Reno laughed quietly.

"Sorry if I overwhelmed you," he said.

"It's ok, you know what, never mind, we did it before we can do it again," said Yuffie, pulling Reno towards her and kissing him and…yeah well, you know what they did.

A few hours later, Reno lifted himself off of Yuffie, he lay beside her, breathing heavily. Yuffie hugged him tightly.

"I love you Reno," she whispered, Reno stroked her black hair.

"I love you too Yuff," he answered, kissing the top of her head, she got up and picked up her clothes, Reno did the same. After they got dressed, Yuffie looked at the clock, it was eleven o'clock in the night.

"Geez aren't we time wasters!" said Yuffie, Reno put his arm around her.

"Nah, we cherished the time with doing something desirable," said Reno, Yuffie looked out the window.

"Rude and Elena still not back yet?" Yuffie asked, peering at the dark streets. Reno shook his head, stretching out on the bed.

"They're not meant to be back till tomorrow," he said, taking out a cigarette. Yuffie raised her eyebrows at him.

"Reno…what did I say back a while ago?" she said, putting her hands on her hips. Reno looked at her.

"Just once, I need this," said Reno, Yuffie sighed.

"Not a clever choice but I'll let you off this once, you should have never started in the first place," said Yuffie, Reno looked at her as he got up from the bed.

"Hey, I was depressed, my life meant nothing to me at that time," said Reno sounding a bit peeved.

"Sorry," Yuffie murmured. Reno shook his head.

"Never mind, I'm just gonna smoke for a bit outside ok? I'll be back in a minute, you stay here," said Reno, grabbing his jacket and heading for the door. Yuffie watched him. "What?" he said, taking his lighter out from the pocket.

"You're leaving me here?" she asked annoyed at the thought.

"It's just for a few minutes, I won't be long," said Reno, exiting the room, Yuffie heard him leave the apartment. She slumped down on the bed, fingering the quilts, fading back on a few hours ago, she flushed red. She just hoped he wouldn't be gone too long, she hated being alone again. The apartment was quiet, only the sound of the cars driving pass accompanied her and then she lay asleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7: The Meeting**

A sound of gunfire woke Yuffie up with a fright, which then followed by a shout and some cursing. She looked out the window, nothing was seen through the cruel darkness that surrounded the streets of Sector 8. Yuffie leaped from the bed, she checked the time, 12:00. 12:00, 12:00, 12:00. Reno had been gone for a full hour, Yuffie panicked, she quickly left the apartment and ran out into the streets, she chased down behind a corner and spotted a trail of blood, her heart stopped. She followed it, scared of what she might find. She reached the end of the trail and saw a black shoe sticking out from a corner of an alleyway, Yuffie's heart raced, her blood rising, she walked gingerly over to the figure, a pool of blood appearing around it. The body stirred and turned its head to face Yuffie, it was Reno.

"Oh god Reno, what happened to you?" Yuffie asked him nervously. Reno looked up at her, his blue eyes filled with hate.

"That bloody shit head Barrett! He and Cloud have been chasing my ass down here, and you know what? Yeah, they bloody shoot my f***ing arm and my leg so I can't f***ing walk now!" Reno cursed fiercely. Yuffie blinked, a tear rolling down her face.

"Why? How could they?" she whispered, her hands trembling.

"Just because they wanna protect you, Barrett said if I lay so much as one finger on you again, he was gonna shoot my ass sky high!" said Reno, feeling hurt, Yuffie let out a sob.

"Oh f**k him! It's my fault that you got shot! Just because I'm the bloody Princess of Wutai and the bloody AVALANCHE member, you're the Turk and that means that you can't go near me! F**K THIS WORLD!!" Yuffie exclaimed, collapsing to the ground beside Reno, tears pouring out uncontrollably. "I can't bear to see you get hurt, and all because of me!" she said, choking with tears. Reno hugged her with his good arm.

"It's not your fault, I'm the one that had to join the bloody Turks!" said Reno angrily, hugging Yuffie closely.

"I don't care if you're from the Turks! You quit that shitty place anyways! I don't want them to hurt you!" said Yuffie, going closer to Reno. "Quick, let's get you out of here before Barrett comes back and sees you near me!" said Yuffie, pulling Reno up and supporting him with one arm over his shoulder and the other holding his bad arm. Reno hung onto her, limping as she brought him back to the apartment, she had her Shuriken out, giving a warning to anyone that wanted to attack her and the wounded one. They reached the apartment in double quick time, Yuffie lay Reno on the bed and bandaged his arm and leg, she pulled the blanket over him, Reno looked at her appreciated with her helping him. Yuffie kissed his cheek, she lay down next to him, wanting to stay beside him for the rest of the night. The two fell asleep beside each other.

**************************************************************

"Reno? Reno! Wake up!" said Yuffie, shaking Reno's shoulder, Reno stirred and his face twitched, he opened his eyes and spotted Yuffie holding a tray with toast and coffee, there was also a letter on the tray, Reno snatched it up quickly, recognising the symbol on the letter. It was the Shinra inc. symbol, but it wasn't from President Shinra, it was from Tseng.

_Reno, _

_You have a meeting down in Shinra inc. at 5:00, there are important issues we need to discuss in the Investigation Division of the Department of General Affairs, A.K.A the Turks, you are familiar with this I'm sure of that, don't let me down and don't be late, you've caused enough trouble as it is. You have disgraced me, _

_Tseng, _

_head of the Investigation Division of the Department of General Affairs._

Reno groaned, throwing the letter down on the bed, Yuffie stared at him as she placed the tray on the cabinet beside him. "What?" she asked, looking at the letter.

"It's from Tseng, he wants me down at a meeting in Shinra inc., damn, I hate going back to that shit of a building!" Reno replied crossly, Yuffie looked at him. "But why does he want you down there?"

"Just some important issues needed to discuss, f**k him! Like I'm apart of the Turks anyway, and where the hell are Rude and Elena, it's like four o'clock in the evening!" Reno complained loudly, Yuffie shrugged. Reno heaved himself out of the bed and stood up, fetching his Turks suit, Yuffie, knowing that this was a sign that he was gonna get dressed, left the room and mumbled that she'd leave the tray there if he felt like eating. A few minutes later, Reno emerged into the kitchen and found Yuffie sitting at the table, flicking through yesterdays newspaper, she looked up and found Reno staring at her. She turned red.

"Sorry, I can't help it, when I see newspapers I just wanna read 'em," said Yuffie foolishly, Reno laughed and placed the empty tray on the table.

"You finished already?" Yuffie asked him, closing the newspaper after seeing an article about Godo's ball, she hated the publicity. Reno nodded.

"Yeah, seeing as you're here you might as well eat something," said Reno opening the fridge and peering inside, "geez, I've got so many eggs in here that I'm starting to believe that Elena's actually a hen!" Reno joked causing Yuffie to burst in fits of laughter.

"All right, all right if you insist, you'll have one too won't you?" said Yuffie, standing up and walking over to Reno, she leaned in close to him, having a good look at his pale skin. "You need your protein I see, don't you drink enough milk?"

"I do, it's just my nature," said Reno taking out a couple of eggs from the fridge.

"Yeah, to look like Count Dracula!" Yuffie blurted out, laughing as she said it. Reno gave a flippant shocked look. He grinned evilly at her.

"Fine then!" he said, baring his teeth in mock vampire fashion. "I am going to drink your blood!" he joked, pretending to bite Yuffie's neck, Yuffie shrieked with laughter, pushing Reno away.

"Get off you weirdo!" she said laughing. Reno then started kissing her neck instead.

"Oooh, what a pretty little neck you have," he said humorously, Yuffie giggled.

"Really Reno, I've said it before and I'll say it again, you're such a flatterer!" said Yuffie.

"I know, c'mon, we better get these eggs cracking!" said Reno, cracking a few of the eggs and putting them into the pan, Yuffie did likewise. After a while, they sat down at the table with their eggs, Yuffie giggled.

"It's amazing how many eggs you have in that fridge!" said Yuffie, chewing on her egg.

"Yeah, it's amazing how fast Elena lays them," said Reno light-heartedly, Yuffie poked him fondly.

"Don't be so mean to poor Elena, speaking of which, where are they?" said Yuffie worriedly, Reno stopped joking at started being serious, he looked at the time, it was half four. He cleared up his plate and put it in the sink, yesterdays cups of coffee congealing. Yuffie watched Reno head for the door. "You leaving now?" she asked.

"Yeah, you can stay here, I've got loads of books in my room so you can read those if you like, I don't really care, you can have a party in my room," said Reno, Yuffie chortled.

"Ok then! Let's party!" she said jokingly, Reno laughed and exited the apartment after giving Yuffie a kiss goodbye. Yuffie stayed sitting on the seat, gazing at the plates in the sink, she then got up and started washing them, just to be a good sport since Reno let her stay here for the night.

*****************************************************

Thump! The cigarettes landed in the bin outside the Shinra inc. building, Reno thought of what Yuffie said and decided to give up the crap. He backed away from the bin and headed inside the musty old building, the hallway becoming familiar, the haunting memories of being here before circled his anxious brain, what did Tseng want him for? Where were Rude and Elena? Reno entered the familiar room, the crowd of Turk members all sat in a circle on the seats, Tseng right up the front in the middle, his eyes looked straight into Reno's. The room was hushed as Reno entered the room, Elena and Rude sat in the far end beside Tseng, Elena's eyes were red and puffy, Rude looked miserable. Reno looked confusingly at them, but either refused to look back at him, Tseng stood up and offered Reno a seat, beside him. Reno took a seat and glanced at Elena, she sniffed sadly, Rude glared at Reno behind his black glasses. Tseng cleared his throat, ready to speak.

"Reno…do you know why you're here?" Tseng asked austerely.

"What the f**k are you on about? You're the one that sent me the letter! Something about f***ing issues needing to be discussed! That's all I know!" Reno spat out, frowning at Tseng's question. A chorus of complaints and crude comments filled the room, some of the members casting dirty looks at Reno. Elena and Rude stayed silent, Tseng's eyes narrowed as he watched Reno.

"So you think this whole thing is a joke to you, Reno, well I wouldn't be laughing if I were you!" Tseng shouted angrily, Reno scowled at him, but felt a bit ashamed. "Right in the middle of when Meteor hit Midgar, you decide to flee, dragging Elena and Rude with you, leaving the rest of us fighting for our lives, some of us killed! Reeve was killed that day, and you! You just run off and leave us, warm blood spread across our faces while you went to save your own skin, and also you drag Elena and Rude into this mess! The blood of our members still lay on that ground when you left, it didn't dry until the cruel rain washed it away, their spirits now wander in the life stream, including your parents-"

"STOP IT!!!!!" Reno suddenly shouted, cutting Tseng off, he looked at him. Tears were appearing in Reno's eyes, the thought of his parent's death saddened him.

"You have disgraced us, Reno! You've already been given a warning, but any other outbursts from you and Elena and Rude shall suffer the same, their families are already in danger as it is, don't disappoint them, all of you are dismissed, I have an important meeting with President Shinra so I mustn't be disturbed any longer," said Tseng, getting up from his seat and heading out the door. Everyone left, except for Reno, Rude and Elena, they all stayed silent. Rude then had the courage to make the first move, he stood up and walked straight past Reno, Elena stood up hesitantly and followed Rude, she stopped near Reno. "Are you coming?" she whispered. Reno looked up at her. "Yeah." he answered stiffly, he got up and followed Elena and Rude, they stopped in the dark hallway, the clock read half five. Rude turned to Reno.

"I'm sorry," he said shortly afterwards, Reno looked at him.

"Sorry for what?" said Reno, Rude stared at the floor. "Sorry for dragging you into this meeting," he replied.

"You're not the one to apologize, I dragged you into this mess, I'm sorry," Reno muttered. Elena put a hand on his arm.

"Don't, we shouldn't give a damn about what old Tseng says!" said Elena crossly. Reno chuckled. "I thought you had a crush on the guy," said Reno. Elena grinned. "Nah, I'm so over him, it's Rufus I like now, hot and sexy! That's my motto for now! Oh…and also kind! He's much better than Tseng!" said Elena, Reno turned to Rude. "Who are you into now Rude?" Reno asked him. Rude blushed.

"Eh…well there was this bartender that I had a crush on…" Rude started.

"Say no more, pal," said Reno, Elena looked at the time. "I think we better go, c'mon Rude, Reno!" said Elena heading for the exit, Rude followed her but Reno stopped to tie his shoelace. Suddenly, a voice was heard from behind him. "So you finally showed up today, and I thought that you would have been too embarrassed to show your face around the Turks again," said a woman with spiky blonde hair, it was Edel, a Turk member who has an unhealthy crush on Reno. Reno rolled his eyes, he wasn't really fond of this woman, basically because she was a slut.

"What do you want?" Reno asked her, finished tying his shoelace, Edel shook her head.

"I just wanted to talk to you, I really missed you when you left the Turks, but I'm extremely frustrated with you for leaving and then later on hearing that you had a fling with Miss Big Bosom Scarlet! And also meeting with one of the AVALANCHE members, that annoying little bitch Ninja, Yuffie!" Edel said sharply, Reno glared at her.

"Don't you dare call Yuffie a bitch! She's a hell lot better than you, you slag!" Reno retorted. Edel raised her eyebrows. "You love that little tramp?" she asked, bewildered.

"Hell yeah I do! You wouldn't find anyone better!" said Reno angrily.

"You got me!" said Edel slyly.

"Oh yeah, that's a GREAT choice," said Reno sarcastically, Edel flushed red with anger. "Well, you're the one making the WRONG choice picking that bitch Yuffie! Don't you notice that?" said Edel stubbornly.

"No, I think I've made the greatest choice in my life!" said Reno.

"Well tonight you're gonna think twice!" Edel replied, whacking Reno across the head with her Uzi guns, knocking him unconscious. "I'm sooo sorry about doing this, but you just gotta see sense, unlike Scarlet, I have feelings for you!" said Edel lustily, dragging Reno's unconscious body into a dark room and shutting the doors behind her, locking them.

********************************************************************************

The apartment door flew open, Yuffie and Elena jumped with fright, Rude barely looked up to see who came in, he stayed reading his newspaper while drinking his cup of coffee. Reno entered the kitchen, his clothes rumpled and creased, he walked a bit weirdly, as if he had been running all day and his legs were sore, he slumped down on a seat, his face screwed up as if he were in pain. Yuffie and Elena stared at him anxiously. "Hey Reno? You ok?" Yuffie asked him, sitting next to him. Reno shook his head. "No. Ow!" he groaned, he then groaned even louder. "F**K!" he clutched the ends of the table, Yuffie looked at Elena confusingly. "Reno? What happened to you all this time?" Elena asked him. Reno turned to her.

"That f***ing bitch Edel raped me!" said Reno through gritted teeth. Elena sniggered. "What?" said Reno snappily.

"Sorry, it's just…you're a man! How the hell?" said Elena. "She knocked me out!" said Reno crossly. Yuffie looked furious. "That bitch!" she spat out fierily. Reno face screwed up again.

"Oh god, my tackle really-" Reno started.

"What she-?" Yuffie began, looking at Reno with a disgusted look.

"Don't go there Yuffie!" said Reno warningly, Yuffie shuddered. "Ew, that's vile!" she said.

"I know, and the way she does it…OH GOD!" said Reno, slamming his fist on the table, Elena sniggered again.

"Gee, is she that bad?" said Elena, sniggering.

"No Elena, but if you love people messing around with your privates, you go try it then!" said Reno sarcastically. Elena scowled at him. "Geez, don't be so grumpy just because it was the first time someone gave you oral you-know-what!" said Elena, sipping her coffee. Reno gave her a dirty look.

"Can we just forget about this?" Yuffie asked, Rude remained silent as he read through the newspaper, Elena shrugged, gulping down her coffee. Yuffie looked at the time, it was seven thirty. "I hope Godo doesn't come back from his important business and find that I'm not in Wutai, god he would send half of the people in Wutai out in search of his only precious Princess!" said Yuffie sickly, she rolled her eyes. "I hate the royal treatment!"

"In my condition, I'd love the royal treatment once in a while," said Elena, propping her feet up on a spare chair.

"Well if you have to live with it for the rest of your friggin life then you'd hate it!" said Yuffie. "I remember one time he gave out to me for attempting to climb Da Chao, I was only five at the time! After that he had servants by my side twenty four seven, while he just stays in pagoda like a pasha!" said Yuffie sourly, Reno laughed.

"I heard Godo's men were summoned to destroy Da Chao, he said the statue didn't fit in with the pagoda, he wants the servants to get a statue of Ling Verra, who supposedly was the fourth Wutain god, who represented Autumn or so they say," said Elena, Yuffie looked shocked. "They can't knock down Da Chao! Oh god why does he always do this to me!" Yuffie moaned, banging her fists together.

"That's what I heard from one of the guards in Wutai one time we went down there to spy on Godo," said Elena.

"Oh yeah, that was two years ago," said Yuffie. Yuffie then suddenly forgot something she jumped up. "I forgot my Sernva necklace back in Wutai!" Yuffie gasped. Reno looked up at her.

"You wanna go back and get it?" he asked.

"Yeah, can you come with me?" Yuffie pleaded.

"Yeah sure, no problem," said Reno, getting up and grabbing his jacket. "I'll be back soon you guys," he mumbled to Elena and Rude and headed out the door with Yuffie.

The dark evening filled Wutai as Yuffie entered the silent house with Reno, good thing Renvia was in Nibelheim, thought Yuffie. She looked through the drawers and cabinets and sighed. It wasn't there.

"I think it's in Godo's room," said Yuffie, heading up the giant marble stairs and into Godo's room. She opened the china cupboards and pulled open the stained glass drawers, with luck, she found the necklace, it dangled gracefully on a gold chain, the blue diamond hung beautifully from it's locket, Yuffie's reflection was seen in the diamond. Reno came in the room, he gingerly walked across the glass floor. "So you found it?" he asked, standing by Yuffie.

"Yeah," said Yuffie, suddenly there was a loud noise, voices were heard from downstairs. Yuffie gasped, what was happening now?


	8. Chapter 8

**Chapter 8: Terror**

Yuffie still held onto the necklace, Reno looked even paler than before, the noise was getting louder now. Yuffie looked at Reno with worried eyes. It was Godo's men. She knew this wasn't gonna go on for long!

"Oh shit! Oh shit! OH SHIT!" hissed Yuffie, Reno held her close. "What's happening?" he asked her. Yuffie started trembling.

"It's the soldiers, Godo's soldiers, I think they know we're here," said Yuffie worriedly, Reno cursed.

"F**k, how are we gonna get passed them?" said Reno.

"We're just gonna have to leg it passed them, no matter what," said Yuffie, squeezing Reno's hand.

"And if we get shot?" said Reno, giving Yuffie's hand a little squeeze back. Yuffie looked at him. "They wouldn't shoot me…but they'd shoot you!" said Yuffie frantically.

"I know, but that's a chance we've got to take," said Reno anxiously, Yuffie held his hand tightly. "Let's do it!" said Yuffie, they ran for the door and burst it open, Godo's soldiers looked up at the steps, they shouted for attention to the other men who were searching the living room. Reno ran down past them, dragging Yuffie with him, gunfire sounded through the house. They made it outside, Yuffie ran as fast as she could, breathing fast, Reno dragged her along by her wrist, they ran and ran, not stopping till they reached the top of a hill, a river passed through the hill, leading to a waterfall, below the hill was a pool of water. Reno hesitated, the noise of the soldiers was closer now, Yuffie burst into tears. "What'll we do now?" she asked nervously, tears dripping down her cheeks.

Reno bit his lip, he looked down at the high drop, the water glistening in the dark evening, his mind suddenly made up.

"We're gonna jump Yuff," Reno announced flatly. Yuffie looked at him as if he'd gone insane.

"What?" she asked him shockingly, too late, Reno took hold of her waist and wrapped his other arm around her shoulders.

"Ready?"

"Wait - Reno!"

"JUMP!" he said and he hurled himself and Yuffie off the cliff, Yuffie's scream echoed through the air, the soldiers hurried up the hill and looked down over it. They spotted Yuffie and Reno splashing into the water, the soldier looked away.

"Damn bad luck!" murmured one soldier. "What's Godo gonna say now that we lost the Princess, and the Turk that was with her?" the other soldier asked.

"We face the facts, there's no way they could've survived that fall into the water below, Princess Yuffie Kisagari is dead to us now, and so is that Turk bastard," said the lead soldier and he trailed off with the rest of his comrades, leaving the scene behind them.

---

Yuffie surfaced after a while in the freezing cold water, she shivered and tried to look up, the distance was amazingly far from where they had fallen, she couldn't believe she was still alive. But where was Reno?

_Reno…_

Yuffie screamed as she felt something grab her leg--she looked down, there was a figure near her, suddenly it rose and lifted it's head out of the water, a familiar smiling face met hers.

"Reno, you scared me," she said relieved that he had survived too. He ruffled her hair jokingly. "Great fall wasn't it---OW!!" shouted Reno as Yuffie pulled his ponytail with annoyance.

"Don't you ever f***ing do that again! You really had me worried that I wouldn't live to see the day--"

"Yuff! Calm down, we were gonna survive, that's why I jumped!" said Reno, pulling Yuffie close to him. "Hey look, a cave under that waterfall," he said, beckoning Yuffie towards it. It looked dark and damp inside, considering that they were cold water, Yuffie looked nervously around, hoping that the soldiers weren't above them or anywhere to be seen. "Hell's fire it's cold!" shivered Reno, Yuffie giggled anxiously, they crossed the thrashing waterfall and entered the dark cave. Reno looked at the dull sodden walls, their moist patterns welcoming. Droplets of water dripped onto Yuffie's liquorice black hair, it shone in the darkness, Reno's hair became lankier than ever, the water had made it damp and cold, Yuffie reached up to push a strand of hair out of his eyes, she giggled as he stared at her. The cave was quiet, only the sound of the droplets dripping on the cold hard stone and the rushing waterfall rang through the heavy walls of the cave. As they waded further into the cave, a gleam of light was seen appearing in the corners of the cave walls, it shone a shade of blue, purple and pink all at once, Yuffie and Reno became even more curious. "No one's been here before, I've heard rumours that there was supposed to be an untold mystery in Wutai, could this be it?" said Yuffie quietly. The droplets of water still continued to drip down on them, as they reached the gleam of light, around the corner they saw what was making it, a host of crystals lay copiously against the moist stones, stained glass shadowed the dull walls, making the cave almost like a sacred underground church, Yuffie's beautiful face reflected in the glass, Reno smiled at the site of it, he reached over to kiss Yuffie on the cheek, she blushed.

"It's a beautiful place, I wonder how no one's come across it?" said Yuffie, Reno simpered.

"That's because no self-proclaimed jackass would wander around here near a killer waterfall," said Reno insolently, Yuffie giggled. Finding a ledge close-by where the water was a bit shallower, Yuffie perched herself upon the cold damp ground, Reno joined her. She rested her head on his shoulder, the wetness of his shirt didn't bother her, he kissed her forehead lovingly. "I love you Reno," purred Yuffie, her eyes half-closed, Reno stroked her red cheeks and kissed her lips. The softness of her lips brushed against his, their mouths working, a meaningful kiss that only could be portrayed by true lovers, his hands brushed back her soaked hair, he nibbled the lobe of her ear and kissed her neck, the moment was ruined when a droplet of water dripped down on Reno's nose, causing him to jump. Yuffie laughed, drying the wet droplet off his nose, she kissed the tip of his nose briefly. "You little redheaded Turkey," said Yuffie childishly, Reno grinned. "You little black-haired sheep, god, do sheep and Turkeys go?" said Reno, beaming. "In this case, hell yeah!" said Yuffie, the sound of the waterfall was faint in the furthest part of the cave, Yuffie looked up at the high dark ceiling, the stalactites and stalagmites hanging over their heads in a threatening manner, Yuffie froze. "We better be quiet," she whispered, pointing up at the ceiling which exposed the sharp conical pillars above them. Reno looked at Yuffie. "I think we better get outta here," he suggested, Yuffie groaned quietly. "Aww, but it's so pretty," she moaned. "If you want your body buried here when they collapse then stay," said Reno, though he held onto Yuffie, "--but I won't let that happen," he added hastily. They made their way back to the entrance, since they didn't want to risk exploring an unknown cave as there might be the dangers of loose boulders or holes in the middle of the caves or underwater. Finally, they exited the cave and out into the cold night, the breeze hit their faces, making them shiver.

"Quick, let's get back to Midgar, it's way too risky out in Wutai," said Yuffie hurriedly, Reno obeyed and headed for the train leading to Midgar. Yuffie watched out the window from the train, the darkness spread the valley, Reno stayed seated, staring out the window as well. Both were silent until Yuffie spoke up, "We're almost in Midgar so get ready," she said fixing her creased shorts. Reno nodded and couldn't help staring at Yuffie's legs.

Her thighs, so peachy and sexy…Reno shook the thought away, afraid he might arouse himself too much. They finally arrived in Midgar Sector 8, Yuffie got out of the train with Reno, the wind tossed her hair around, she smiled as she breathed in the oily scent of the area, at least she was safe from Godo's soldiers. They went back to the apartment, Elena was worried sick about them, Rude stayed calm.

"Where have you been?" she looked at their slightly damp clothes. "Were you swimming?"

"No…" said Yuffie and she told Elena the whole story, Rude looked up at them. "Godo's soldiers were after you?" he asked.

Yuffie nodded. "Yeah, it's because they probably found out Reno was a Turk and he was with me," said Yuffie.

"So you're love is dangerous?" said Elena disappointingly. "I don't give a f**k!" Yuffie retorted. "My father has no right to choose who I love, you can't force love on someone!"

"That's right," said Elena, putting the kettle on and placing four cups on the counter, she made coffee for all of them. She looked at Yuffie. "I guess you'll have to stay here," she said, giving Yuffie her coffee. "Until, I dunno, as long as Godo calms down enough for you to tell him the truth, and then if he doesn't accept, say farewell to Wutai, come back here and get married to Reno and you'll have lots of lovely children, the end." said Elena idiotically. Yuffie giggled. "A bit too early for thinking about that--" said Yuffie, but she gave a fast mumble, "--butIwouldn'tmindmarryingReno," Elena looked at her, "Wha?" she asked.

"I said I wouldn't mind marrying Reno," Yuffie admitted, Elena squealed with excitement, she rushed over to Yuffie. "OH I have your wedding all planned out and everything…uh…when is the wedding by the way?" Elena asked.

"I dunno, I just said I would like to marry him some day," said Yuffie, blushing. She glanced at Reno, who caught her staring at him, she smiled at him. Elena glanced at the time. "12:00, I better be going to bed, goodnight guys!" said Elena yawning, she got up from the table and went into the hallway to her bedroom, Rude said goodnight to the two of them and followed Elena down the hallway to his room. Yuffie looked at Reno, she went red, Reno looked at her, both thinking the same thing. Yuffie gave a little cough. "So…um…I guess we should go to bed…" she said, Reno smirked at the way she said 'go to bed', he nodded and they both went into Reno's bedroom.

---

Yuffie lay down beside Reno, her bare body close to his. She giggled. "Starting again I see," she said.

"Yup," he said kissing her neck.

"Won't Elena and Rude hear us?" she asked worriedly.

"Nah, the walls are too thick, they won't hear anything," said Reno.

---

12:00 in the morning, Yuffie woke up and found herself with only a quilt covering her naked body, she looked beside, Reno wasn't there, she got up and got dressed. She headed into the kitchen and found Reno sitting down at the table, chewing on a piece of toast. He looked up and spotted Yuffie. "Had a good sleep?" he asked her.

"Yep, knowing what we did last night," said Yuffie slyly, Reno smiled. "So you liked it?"

"Of course, silly," said Yuffie sitting down beside him and giving him a kiss.

"Want toast? I'll put another two slices in the toaster if you want," said Reno, brushing the crumbs off his trousers.

"Yes please," said Yuffie, fixing her t-shirt, making herself look welcoming. The clock that hung on the plastered wall clicked, the second-hand rotating from 1 to 2 to 3 and so on. She looked around, wondering where Rude and Elena were. "Hey Reno, where's Rude and Elena?"

"Rude's gone off looking for work, and Elena has a lie-in everyday, she'll be doing that everyday till she finds a friggin job," Reno answered, pressing down the toaster, he looked at Yuffie from the corner of his eye. "What d'ya wanna do for the rest of the day, besides casual sex," he asked.

"Is that all you think about?" said Yuffie, laughing. "Nah, I just thought that's what you were thinking?" said Reno, sipping coffee, then taking out the two toasts and giving them to Yuffie, he passed her the butter and knife.

"Hell no, I thought maybe we could go see Sora and the others," Yuffie suggested, buttering her toast, the butter melted quickly as it lay on the hot steamy toast.

"What? Where Cloud is?" said Reno worriedly, Yuffie shook her head. "Cloud's not gonna be there, hopefully, please Reno, Sora's gonna be happy to see you, you two get on so well," pleaded Yuffie. Reno finally gave in.

"Fine, I'll go," said Reno, putting his cup in the sink, Yuffie finished her toast quickly and placed the plate in the sink as well. She grabbed her jacket and hurried Reno out the door.

---

Traverse Town was bright and warm, the evening sky drifted over their heads, the sun was beginning to go down, it hovered over the clouds, changing the colour of the sky to an orangey-red colour. Yuffie spotted the house Sora was staying at with the others, she felt excited and rushed up to the house, dragging Reno behind her. She knocked on the door and waited for an answer. Sora answered the door, Riku and Violet were visible from behind Sora, they were in the kitchen playing go fish with a deck of cards. Sora smiled when he seen Yuffie and Reno. "Hey guys, what brings you around here?" Sora asked them. "Hi Sora, we just wanted to pop by to say hello," said Yuffie, grinning cheerily. Reno smiled at Sora.

"Hey Sora, it's great to see you again," said Reno, shaking Sora's hand. Sora beamed, "C'mon in, Riku and Violet are playing cards, the rest are upstairs, chatting and listening to Marlene's debate with Denzel about the cruelty to animals for school," Sora explained, going into the kitchen, Reno went white, he held back for a few minutes.

"What's wrong Reno?" Yuffie asked him.

"What if Cloud's up there? He'll be after my ass for sure!" said Reno anxiously. Yuffie sighed. "He won't be, I'll make sure of that," said Yuffie firmly. Reno gave up and followed Yuffie into the kitchen, Riku and Violet greeted them warmly.

"Hi guys! Wanna go upstairs with us to meet up with the others?" Riku asked them.

"Sure!" said Yuffie excitedly, Reno looked like he was about to drop dead. They went up the stairs with Sora, Riku and Violet, a burst of noise came from the room across from the landing.

"…and it is with our firmest beliefs that we should put an end to the cruelty to animals," said Marlene as Sora, Riku, Yuffie, Reno and Violet entered the room. Everyone turned their attention to them, Yuffie smiled and greeted her friends, all was silent when they spotted Reno. Tifa looked as if she were about to jump up and punch the living daylights out of Reno, Yuffie looked at their expressions and quickly came to Reno's aid. "And here's Reno, some of you may not know him, but anyways, he's my boyfriend!" Yuffie announced quickly, Barrett's eyes grew fierce with every glance at Reno, Cloud scowled in the corner, Aerith looked at him with anxious eyes. Yuffie felt she had let Reno down, and was determined to get things to lighten up. "He's changed completely if you're wondering "what the hell is Grand Ninja Yuffie Kisagari doing with the Electro-mag rod Turk Reno Corneo," I know you probably don't believe that but please you guys, I know he has! I've been with him these past days, I know he's changed! Please give him a chance! He quit the f***ing Turks!" said Yuffie desperately, Tifa's cross expression faded into a confused one, she looked at Barrett and Cloud, their expressions were still cross, but toned down greatly than before. Yuffie felt a sense of hope that they might accept Reno. Tifa and Aerith accepted Reno quickly, greeting him softly as if he were a stranger, a person they've never met before. After a few minutes of silence, and Marlene's nervous expression towards her father, Barrett suddenly let out a gruff reply, "Fine, but if you do anything that's against us, you're dead!" Reno agreed greatly by this and sat down beside Yuffie who seated herself beside Sora.

"So where's Kairi?" Yuffie asked.

"She's not feeling very well, she caught a very bad flu and she's lying sick in bed three rooms down, Isabelle went to comfort her," said Aurora with a concerned look on her face.

"Oh, poor Kairi, I hope she gets better," said Yuffie.

"She will, with plenty of rest and some medicine, she'll be up and running in no time, Isabelle will keep her company for the next five hours she needs," said Aurora, sipping lemonade from a glass. Yuffie plucked up the courage to ask how she was these days. "I'm fine, I still miss Axel, he's stuck in the Organization with his cousin Lyrix and he's had triple thoughts of leaving and crashing here with me, but he won't budge the bloody bastard," said Aurora laughing, she smiled to herself as she thought of Axel.

"Ducan left and he's here with Marine, my other half since I'm her nobody, so why doesn't Axel get influenced by Ducan's departure and high tail his ass outta there before I grab his chakrams and set his ass on fire if he doesn't move sooner or later!" Aurora wailed, at that exact moment, a familiar spiky redheaded man with a bushy ginger headed girl appeared through a portal in the wall. It was Axel and Lyrix. "Oh for the love of god!" said Aurora angrily. "What took you guys so long? I swear I was gonna drag you guys outta there myself!"

"Sorry, I just got held up by Xemnas' f***ing complaints of what a complete asshole I am in the Organization and my only purpose of being there is to annoy the hell outta him," said Axel sourly, Aurora sighed and hugged him tightly. "Oh you're an asshole all right, leaving me here on my own!" said Aurora, giggling, Axel smiled at her. "And the asshole has dragged his sorry ass here to serenade you at night, only you'd come and probably kick me straight back to The World That Never Was and I'd shoot through Xemnas' friggin Kingdom Hearts!" said Axel, drawing laughter from Aurora, Yuffie smiled from behind. "Hey Axel, so you finally made it outta Organization feckers!" said Yuffie.

"Yup, you shoulda heard what happened yesterday, Demyx and Xaldin were arguing and Xaldin was so fed up that he shoved his spears up Demyx's cloak and fired him into the Memory Skyscraper, smashing the top part of the building, and Demyx broke his ass off the pillar he landed on. I swear that one day he's gonna break every bone in his body if he carries on annoying everyone, I set his precious hair on fire just there and Lyrix here then hits me," said Axel, pointing at a blushing Lyrix.

"Hey, anyone who attacks my Demy will get hit," said Lyrix, Axel rolled his eyes. "You've an unhealthy obsession with the guy haven't you? The guy who ate a bar of soap one day," said Axel.

"That was Ducan. And you told him to do it you jackass!" said Lyrix. Ducan smiled happily from the background. Axel looked confused. "That wasn't me!" said Axel. "That was Xigbar!"

"OH! Sorry, I thought it was you! So much for calling you a jackass! I'm the jackass!" Lyrix babbled. Yuffie laughed, the company of all her friends made her feel welcome, and she felt that things were looking up, maybe everything wasn't a nightmare after all. Yuffie couldn't help smiling throughout the evening, Sora talked while eating his ham sandwich, crumbs spilling from his mouth, he chatted away about his summer holidays last year where he was at the beach saying that this bully in school named Mark has a nappy rash when a swarm of bees chased Sora while he was holding his sea-salt ice-cream, Yuffie laughed and remembered a similar event happened to her best friend when she went to school in Wutai at ten years old, only it involved sticky wine gums and a glass of orange juice, and her friend ended up jumping in the river, Sora laughed even more while Yuffie told him this.

Violet looked at her Quartz watch, 8:00, she turned to Yuffie who was squashed between Rhianne, Tifa, Aerith, Aurora, Marine, Elaine, Olette, Rebecca and Lyrix. "Geez we're real chatterboxes aren't we guys?" Violet said laughing, Yuffie grinned, her shoulders squashed against Rhianne's and Marine's, she looked over at the other end of the room and found Reno talking to Sora and the other boys, getting to know them and having a laugh as Sora tripped himself up with his loose shoelaces. Yuffie thought of Kairi, wondering if she was Ok, Isabelle still hadn't come back down from the room. Yuffie asked Marine this, and she looked puzzled.

"I don't know, maybe she's decided to stay up there longer with Kairi since she's not feeling very well," said Marine softly. Yuffie nodded at this but still couldn't help feeling a bit worried, she brushed the thought away and continued to talk to her friends.

8:30, Isabelle still didn't appear in the room. At 8:45, the phone rang, Riku ran to pick it up. "Hello. Hello? Hello?" said Riku confusingly.

**_You lose._**

"What? What the hell are you talking about? Who the hell are you?" Riku asked worriedly.

**_Haven't you noticed…?_**

"What?"

**_Yeah…that's right…we've got your girls--_**

"My girls? Who are you creep!" but the mysterious person on the phone hung up, Riku stood there, his mouth open as if he were going to say something, the phone still buzzing at his ear as the person hung up. He put down the phone and looked at everyone.

"Who was it Riku?" Rhianne asked him anxiously. Everyone waited for a reply.

"I…I dunno, the person just said 'You lose, haven't you noticed' and-and this part is the one that really freaked me out, 'yeah that's right, we've got your girls,'" said Riku tensely. A burst of anxious murmurs filled the room, others exchanging worried looks to one another, Sora was the first to react.

"What does this person mean?" he asked Riku, Riku shook his head.

"I dunno," said Riku, but the obvious suddenly hit Sora.

"Holy shit," Sora breathed, he ran out of the room and into Kairi's room. Yuffie sat uncomfortably in her seat, afraid of what Sora might find, she closed her eyes, feeling the blood beating in her temples. Sora's thundering footsteps brought everyone to attention, Yuffie held her breath, Sora burst through the door, his eyes watering. "They've got Kairi and Isabelle!" Sora announced anxiously, tears spilling down his cheeks. Yuffie felt panic engulf her insides. This was the start of a nightmare.


	9. Chapter 9

**Chapter 9: The Plan**

Yuffie could have cried here and now, but the tears were overtaken by anxiety and shock, Kairi and Isabelle…_kidnapped?_ Sora had taken it far worse than Yuffie, he felt like going crazy, banging his fist against the wall and kicking it, Riku tried his best to calm him down, but anyone could tell by looking at Riku that he felt the same, Kairi was his best friend anyway and so was Isabelle. Cloud gritted his teeth, veins appearing on his forehead, Barrett looked like he wanted to shoot someone, Marlene and Denzel stood with confused expressions, too young to really understand but it was about time someone told them what was going on. Violet and Rhianne were reduced to tears, Sakria cried as well so that the three were clinging onto each other, taking in each other's grief. Yuffie still sat at the chair, unable to cry, the shock taking over her mind, body and soul, Tifa and Aerith looked at her anxiously, they were far too shocked to cry as well, what will happen now that Kairi and Isabelle are kidnapped. Sora paced up and down the room, thinking and letting tears spill down his cheeks, he looked like he was going mad.

"Oh god, oh shit, shit, SHIT!" moaned Sora, banging his fists together, and then hitting his head. Riku stopped him quickly. "Don't beat yourself up Sora, we've got to think of a plan," said Riku, Cloud, Barrett and Reno sat at the seat, looking at each other.

"We'll be looking around outside just in case we see anything," said Cloud getting up with Barrett and Reno, they exited the room and a few minutes later they heard them close the front door behind them. Yuffie sighed, her breath was shaky a bit, she felt like crying, but it was not point, they had to think of something, Kairi and Isabelle are in danger and their only hope are their friends here, Ducan looks serious and sad. Yuffie found it strange seeing him like that, when he was usually larking about and being silly, but now the silliness has stopped and Ducan just sat there, looking miserable, not Ducan anymore. Vincent, being the deathly type and serious, stood at the corner, leaning against the wall, staring into space. "So what's the plan then?" he asked serenely, his red eyes gleaming out from the heavy material on his head that sort of shadowed his eyes. Aerith looked at Riku, she held a green coloured Materia in her hand, Yuffie still remembered her obsession with stealing the Materia, she had lost the urge to steal them and now was also looking at Riku, he bit his lip nervously, scratching the back of his head.

"I dunno…shouldn't we wait until Cloud and the others get back?…" said Riku, suddenly they heard a high-pitch shout from outside, then gunfire. "…Oh god, what now?" mumbled Riku, as he dashed out of the door, followed by Sora and Yuffie, the other stayed in the room, thinking that it wouldn't be a good idea to leave the house just in case someone might come in the house and cause havoc.

Yuffie ran out with Sora and found Cloud fighting with a gang of skin-heads, each clutching shotguns and Automatic Pistols, Reno and Barrett had taken on some of the others to lay the load off Cloud who fought which they thought to be the leader, Sora got annoyed and went to help Cloud, attacking maniacally with his Oblivion Keyblade, Barrett's forehead was shining red with blood as it ran down each side of his face, he shot continuously at the man in front of him with his gun, Reno fought the other skin-head holding the Automatic Pistols, Yuffie decided to help Reno, she took out her Shuriken and flung it at the skin-head's shiny head. It struck his forehead, slashing a good bit of it, a deep red cut appearing suddenly. The blood flowed quickly, wetting his cheeks and rolling down his chin, Reno electrocuted the man's arm as he found his chance when the man squinted from the pain on his forehead, Yuffie suddenly made another daring attack at the helpless skin-head with her Shuriken when the man suddenly uploaded his pistol and shot Yuffie's leg, she collapsed and clutched her bleeding leg, the man raised the gun to her head, she shut her eyes, waiting for her death to come. She opened her eyes suddenly as she heard the man groan and fire the gun a metre away from her temple, it hit a dustbin from behind her. Reno had struck the man on the back with his Electro-mag rod, the blood seeped through his heavy jacket as the rod was pierced into his spine, he gasped as he felt the rod hit him fiercely, more blood started leaking, a dark red stain appeared on the skin-head's jacket, it ran underneath and spilled on the floor, great pools of it following the droplets. He fell to the ground, letting the blood leak continuously, Reno smiled at Yuffie. "One down…tw--" he paused as he felt a sharp pain on his arm, he looked at his left arm, blood spurted from the deep wound, Reno cursed as he clutched his bleeding arm. Yuffie gaped at it and felt a rage of anger build up inside her, she got out her Shuriken and looked at the man behind Reno, it was another skin-head, feeling her anger take over her, she fired the Shuriken at the skin-head, it slashed disgustingly through his neck, decapitating him, his limp body fell to the ground with a thump, blood lashing out everywhere as his bloody head lay beside his lifeless body, it looked revolting, the veins appearing from the opening in his neck, the bones bloody and cut, the blood was like a tap on full blast, it squirted everywhere that Yuffie could have got away with saying she got new red shorts. She picked up the blood-filled Shuriken and faced Barrett and Cloud, who were still attacking the two skin-heads, Yuffie peered at the dark town, waiting for more men to turn up, none did. She instead helped Reno up onto his feet and she tore off her jacket and wrapped it around his wounded arm. He smiled gratefully at her. "Thanks Yuff," he murmured, gasping at the pain, Yuffie kissed his head.

"No prob, it's the least I can do for you," said Yuffie, still clutching his wounded arm, the tightened the jacket around his arm and glanced back to see how Cloud, Riku, Sora and Barrett were, the skin-heads had disappeared, leaving a bloody mess on the ground. Sora stood panting, blood twinkling on his clothes and face, Cloud wiped his blood-smeared chin. "They were the serial killers, I forgot to tell you that these serial killers have suddenly come to Traverse Town from a planet called Terrace, it's inhabitants are few, since the planet has been in ruins for 25 years now, the people there gave up hope in rebuilding the place so m refugees come here every few months," said Cloud angrily, shaking off blood from his trousers.

"Rhianne came from Terrace, you could ask her more about the place when we go in," said Sora, leaving the messy scene and entering the house. Yuffie looked at Barrett, he shook his head and followed Sora.

They entered the room and everyone stared at them curiously. "Rhianne, Sora told me you came from Terrace," said Yuffie as she sat next to the girls. Rhianne nodded, sweat appearing on her small forehead. "Yeah, but it's in ruins for some time now, like 15 years," said Rhianne, stroking her woollen cardigan that was wrapped around her arm.

"Rhianne? What was Terrace like before it was in ruins?" said Yuffie curiously, Rhianne winced a bit.

"Oh…it was a beautiful place, you'd never seen the likes of it before, all those lovely wildlife and trees and flowers…but it's just a memory now, nothing more," said Rhianne miserably, Yuffie wished she hadn't asked her about Terrace.

"…Rhianne…I'm sorry…I didn't know you'd get upset over it…" said Yuffie unsurely. Rhianne managed a sad smile.

"Never mind, don't worry about it," said Rhianne firmly, though she did mind very much.

"Cloud said there's these serial killers from Terrace in Traverse Town now, would you know them," said Yuffie, feeling stupid.

"I dunno…---there was a group called _S.K.A.R, _The 'S' stood for 'serial', the 'k' 'killer', 'a' afterlife, 'r' rogues---legend has it that they were a group of afterlife men, sorta like they were dead men, people said they weren't among the living, but the rest of the dead men from the group got exorcised and don't exist to this day, except for one, which was the leader, his name was Vale, but I'm still not sure, it's probably just another one of those stories. But legend also has it that the 'a' meant something else, that it wasn't 'afterlife' at all, but I still don't know up to this day, admission? Angels? I'm just confused," said Rhianne weakly, she placed her hand on her forehead. Yuffie felt frightened by this story, what if the S.K.A.R was real? Would they ever see Kairi or Isabelle again?

"Hey Sora?" asked Yuffie.

"Yeah?" said Sora mournfully.

"I think those guys took Kairi and Isabelle!"

"I dunno, maybe, but I'm desperate to find them!"

"We should work together, that could be our plan," said Yuffie, Sora gained confidence and ran into the next room to grab some pots and pans. He came back and started banging the pots and pans against each other to get people's attention. They all looked at Sora.

"Hey guys! Yuffie just came up with an idea! Why don't we all work together to save Kairi and Isabelle?" said Sora naively.

"Yeah sure…if we find out where they are first!" said Barrett angrily.

"Let's worry about that later, whaddya say guys? It's better than just us guys! Hey Reno, you used to be from a group called the Turkeys right?"

"Turks!" Reno corrected.

"Whatever, you can ask them to help you!" said Sora cheerily.

"I'm afraid I'm gonna have to wipe that smile of your face, I don't work with them anymore and they won't help if I'm not with them, so I have to be with them if I want to help you guys," said Reno sadly, Cloud looked at him suspiciously.

"Is that the only way?" said Cloud.

"Yup," said Reno.

"I guess if it's for a good cause, you're just gonna have to join them again Reno," said Yuffie.

"WHAT? No way," said Reno.

"Shut it! You have to! This is for Kairi and Isabelle you moron!" said Yuffie angrily, Reno scowled. "Fine! I'll just go now and settle things straight, I'll tell them that we have to stop these serial killers and that they've kidnapped two girls, I'll force 'em into it! I'll also slip in that they might come to Gaia and kill everyone of us! We'll organise things tomorrow, I'll call to tell you the news!" said Reno, and with that he left the house and headed off to Gaia, Midgar, Sector 8. Yuffie decided to stay overnight at Sora's house, everyone stayed at Sora's, making it sort of like their hideout, Sora didn't mind and happily agreed to call it their hideout, he then jokingly called it the Traverse Town Restoration Committee, similarly to the Hollow Bastion Restoration Committee, Yuffie smiled at the old memories, but the thoughts of Kairi and Isabelle scared her throughout the night. Yuffie had to comfort Sora when he kept waking up several times in the night, crying about Kairi and Isabelle, saying that he had a dream that they got killed by the skin-heads. This was going to be a long night.

**************************************************************************************

---

Yuffie woke up next morning, her hair had stuck up the wrong way last night from tossing and turning in her sleep, Yuffie found Sora near her and got a fright, causing Sora to wake up shouting. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAGGGGH!!!!! The Heartless are eating my bones clean! Have mercy on--huh? Oh it was just a dream," said Sora, scratching his head. His hair was all over the place, Yuffie looked suspiciously at Sora.

"Why were you sleeping on my mat?" Yuffie asked him nervously, Sora blushed.

"I kinda felt scared in the night so I went near you just to feel safe," said Sora, going red with embarrassment.

"Ok, next time ask me, I was getting kinda worried there," said Yuffie with relief. Sora smiled, he looked at the time, 1:30.

"God we're owls!" said Sora jokingly, he looked hopefully at the cordless telephone. "When d'ya think Reno's gonna ring?" he asked, suddenly the phone started ringing, Sora got up and rushed over to the phone, he stood on Donald's tail causing Donald to wake up shouting and he shot through the ceiling. Sora quickly scrambled onto his feet and picked up the phone.

"Olleh! Oh- er sorry - I meant, hello!" said Sora stupidly, saying 'hello' backwards by mistake.

"Hi Sora, Reno here, say d'ya know who the Turks are?" he asked, sounding cheerful.

"No, why?" said Sora worriedly.

"Cos' you're gonna find out today, everything went well! So get everybody down to Midgar Sector 8, that's where we're gonna be!" Reno answered contentedly. Sora beamed.

"You bet! We're gonna be there ASAP! See ya then!" said Sora and he hung up. Yuffie looked at Sora.

"We better get ready," said Sora, he grabbed a microphone and plugged it to a socket.

"Why?" Yuffie asked, staring at the microphone. Sora raised his finger to his lip and then shouted into the microphone, "WAKE UP YOU LAZY BUMS!!!!!!"

Everyone jumped with fright, Goofy shot up and joined Donald, whom was still stuck with his head through the ceiling and now it included Goofy as well. Cloud looked grumpily at Sora.

"Why the f**k did you do that?" said Cloud sullenly, Sora grinned.

"Because you need to get your lazy ass up and down to Sector 8, Midgar, Reno rang a minute ago saying that everything went a-okay!" said Sora heartily, Cloud's mood changed to a more acceptable and excited mood, he got up right away and changed out of his night clothes. Yuffie smiled, maybe things were getting better after all, let's just hope things would go well when they meet up with the Turks to discuss their plan. Within minutes, everyone had gotten dressed as was ready to go to Midgar. Sora felt proud with the vast amount of people he had for a team, Yuffie stayed close to him with Riku, Siera and Violet, Rhianne stood next to Yuffie to keep her company. "Well that's everyone, let's go to Midgar and meet the Turkeys!" said Sora.

"Turks!" Yuffie corrected.

---

Sector 8 was as dull and boring as ever when they arrived, the roads were shabby and most of Sector 8 was in slums, Sora looked at the area, the outer part where Yuffie worked was much nicer than this part. Yuffie peered long at hard at the place, she watched out for a red-headed man with a blue suit. But she couldn't see Reno anywhere. Wrong, he was right at the corner of a tall murky building, Yuffie smiled.

"Reno! We thought we'd never find you!" Yuffie called, running up to him, his eyes were bloodshot. "Guess you didn't have enough sleep last night did you," she said.

"Nah, my injured arm kept pricking last night, it's still really painful, I had to wash your jacket as well since it was covered in blood, when Elena finally gave me a proper bandage," said Reno, kissing Yuffie's forehead. Sora waved enthusiastically as he saw Reno, he hit Hayner in the chin and Roxas laughed at Hayner. "Serves you right for punching me in the chin the day we were at Godo's ball," said Roxas, laughing. "Hey, that was an accident, I was punching the air!" said Hayner, Olette quickly stopped them arguing. "Will you two stop, Pence and I are sick of hearing you two bicker!" said Olette hotly, Hayner and Roxas shut up quickly, but they kept looking at each other as if they were having a telepathic argument. Reno looked at Sora.

"Well, seeing as you're all here, I take you to were the Turks are, this day is going to be a very busy one, we have to find out where these serial killers are and who's leading them, if they are a group called _Scar_, would their leader be some psycho dead man as Rhianne told us?" said Reno, Sora shivered at the thought of the dead man. "That would be just plain creepy," Reno added, shaking his head slowly.

The building where the Turks were was just as bad as the area itself, the walls had grown green moss, the gate was rusted and broken in half, the plaster on the walls were grey and were peeling away revealing the original dull colour of the brick wall that was covered by the plaster. Sora didn't look impressed, he turned to Reno. "Is this where the Turks stayed all the time?" he asked him.

"Nah, we used to stay in the Shinra inc. building but since President Shinra has a bone to pick with me, we decided to make this shit of a place our hideout for now until we get rid of these serial killers," Reno replied, scratching away the bit of plaster on the moist rusted door. He pushed the door open and it led into a dark hallway, the cobwebs visible in the corners, spiders crawled about on the ceiling and other creepy crawlies that lived in the old building were seen passing through. Rikku looked around nervously, her little body squashed against Yuna and Paine as the three Gullwings floated in the air. "Are there any cockroaches in this house?" she asked in a small frightened tone as she cowered between her two friends.

"Yup, lots of 'em, they wander around the bathroom and some behind the cabinets the dirty bastards, one had crawled over Tseng's face last night," said Reno, shuddering. Rikku squeaked and hid behind Paine, likewise Yuna since the two hated cockroaches, Paine remained completely in control and impassive. The rest followed Reno upstairs, the Gullwings were hidden between the big crowd of people, Rikku and Yuna frightened of the cockroaches. They entered a grimy room, there were less cobwebs in the room, but the walls were covered in dirt and the wallpaper was scratched and torn. Yuna and Rikku looked around horrifyingly, a cockroach suddenly escaped from the darkness underneath a large wardrobe and scampered across the room, causing Rikku and Yuna to scream and hide behind Leon, Leon felt embarrassed with their behaviour and he stood on the cockroach, a crunching sound coming from it as he squashed it. Yuna and Rikku trembled at the sound. Tseng, Elena, Rude, Cissnei, Edel, Renee and the other Turk members stood around a brown table playing cards, Elena looked over her shoulder.

"Well it's about time," she snapped, laying her cards down on display to everyone, Renee looked at them.

"Not again, all aces! She's unbeatable at this card game! I'm short of every damn card in my deck!" Renee complained, throwing her cards down in despair. Sora looked shy, but felt more confident when he knew that his friends were with him. Riku looked at them, feeling a bit confused. Siera remained calm and serious which went by her nature, Violet looked at Yuffie and Rhianne, wondering what would happen now. Reno walked up to the Turk members, beckoning Sora to come along as well with the others. Elena smiled when she seen them, Renee gazed at them curiously, wanting to know who they are.

"Hey guys! Great to see ya again!" said Elena going over to Elaine and Violet, Sora glanced at Renee, who suddenly went shy by the strangers in the building and busied herself by shuffling the cards and placing them back in their packet. She watched Elena make a big fuss over Violet and Elaine. Reno placed a hand on Sora's shoulder. "Sora, this is Renee, she joined the Turks when she was seventeen, she's kinda shy when she sees new people, but when you get to know her she'll be as hyper as anything," said Reno, teasing Renee. She flushed red with embarrassment. "I do _not_ go hyper," she mumbled placing the packet of cards in the cabinet.

"She's only saying that, she does so go hyper, one time she drank too much fizzy drink and she stood up on the table and started singing Elvis Presley's song 'we can't go on together', don't tell her I said that," Reno whispered to Sora, Sora nodded and looked at the other members.

"Hey Reno, you know Axel?" said Sora.

"What? That guy who came in with that hyper highlight-haired chick with the black cloak, yeah, why?" said Reno, fidgeting with his long ponytail. (Not that I hate Reno, but I find ponytails on a man a bit queer! But it suits him!)

"You two look kinda alike, and you act the same as well," said Sora, thinking deeply and looking over at a bemused Axel who had suddenly ran into a cabinet when he was gazing at the dusty room, he then knocked over a purple embroidered pot, Lyrix then gave out to him and ended up knocking over the wardrobe, causing a family of six cockroaches to scamper out from the wardrobe, as a result, Rikku and Yuna screamed their heads off and savagely attacked the cockroaches without knowing.

"We so DO NOT look alike! Maybe a little bit…but when you mention that we act the same…that's true…oh god I have a doppelganger! I think he's a bad omen for me! DIE YOU EVIL BASTARD!" said Reno getting worked up about him and Axel acting the same, he ran over to Axel with his rod and Axel looked at him as if he'd gone mad.

"What the? What are you doing you creep?" said Axel, Reno held up his rod in a threatening manner.

"DIE YOU EVIL TWIN!!! YOU'RE A BAD OMEN!!" said Reno, hitting Axel's arm with his rod, making him mad.

"What's the matter with you? Don't you dare hit me and think you can get away with it you smart ass!" said Axel, taking out his chakrams and throwing them at Reno's leg, Reno yelped, his trousers had caught fire by mistake.

"You bastard! MY TROUSERS ARE ON FIRE!! CALL THE FIRE BRIGADE!! I'M MELTING AS WE SPEAK!! I-" Yuffie then threw water on his trousers, smoke started coming out from the edges that were burnt. "Oh…thanks Yuff," said Reno idiotically, feeling silly.

"Don't mention it pumpkin!" she said teasingly, winking at Reno. Axel rolled his eyes. "Who gave you that stupid idea of me being a bad omen to you," said Axel, tapping the ground.

"Sora said that you look like me and that we act the same," said Reno.

"We don't really look the same, but we do act the same, weird!" said Axel calmly, he shook his head. "Don't go taking it seriously, I'm just a nobody, not a bad omen!"

"Oh…what's a nobody," said Reno confusingly, Axel sighed and explained to him from start to finish.

"Oh…so does that mean you're my nobody?" Reno asked, Axel sighed heavily.

"_No!_ Your name doesn't fit in with mine and my name doesn't fit in with yours! We just act the same and sorta look alike for some strange reason," said Axel getting annoyed. Reno nodded.

"Ok, I'm happy with that, let's just go over to Tseng and get ready to discuss what we're going to do," said Reno, Axel agreed happily and went over to join Lyrix and Aurora, who were having a lovely girly chat (poor Axel, having to listen to their girly natter! *sob* just kidding you guys!). Sora, Yuffie and the others followed Reno to join with the Turk Members, Reno looked around for Tseng.

"Where's Tseng?" he asked Elena.

"He's in the other room, he'll be here in a minute," said Elena firmly. Tseng appeared in the room five minutes later, he watched the crowd as he recognised the familiar faces of his enemies, he ignored his grudge and carried on toward the brown table where his colleagues were, he seated himself down on one of the rusty brown chairs.

"Eh hem, well, we're all here now I see, so the only thing we need to do now is try to find out where these killers are," said Tseng coolly, his eyes were filled with worry and agitation. "Where did these killers appear exactly?" he asked.

"In a place called Traverse Town, sir," Sora replied politely, Tseng nodded. "If they appeared there, there's every chance they'll find their way in Gaia…the fate of the people would be endangered, we can't risk ignoring them it'll just get worse, the best we can do is act quickly. Elena, go fetch the laptop," said Tseng.

"Yes sir," said Elena and she disappeared into the next room. A few seconds later, they heard a shrill scream from the room.

"Elena!" shouted Yuffie, and they all ran quickly into the room. Elena was cowering in the corner, a terrified look plastered on her face.

"G-get t-that thing a-away from me!" she said horrifyingly pointing at the far end of the room, they looked over at what she was pointing at, horror met their eyes. A very tall skeleton man in a black suit stood elegantly near a flower pot and some document sheets, he looked confused at Elena's reactions towards him.

"What's with her? I just said hello, and I was going to give her this shiny contraption I found," said the skeleton holding the laptop in his bony hands.

"Jack Skellington! What're you doing here? Why aren't you in Halloween Town?" said Sora angrily, but was glad to see him as well.

"Well, I was wandering around the graveyard, feeling entirely bored of the day when suddenly I saw this shiny white portal near one of the trees, I was so curious so I just stepped into it and found myself in this area. Being attracted to old houses, I went in here, kinda strange huh?" said Jack, grinning, Elena slowly got out from the corner and went beside Yuffie, taking nervous glances at Jack. "I see you've found new friends Sora, hey there!" said Jack cheerily, Yuffie smiled sheepishly, and Reno looked as white as before. "Oh…sorry, I see you're not use to seeing talking skeletons."

"It's ok, er…Jack, we will eventually," said Yuffie, Reno looked at her.

"Eh…Yuffie we have matters to discuss, not with this guy around," Reno whispered to Yuffie, Yuffie nodded.

"Yeah, but it wouldn't be exactly polite if we tell him to leave," she whispered back. Sora overheard them and nudged in closer to Yuffie.

"We could tell him about the assassins and then warn him to look after Halloween Town in case they go there," suggested Sora, Yuffie nodded. "Great idea, go tell him," she said.

"Hey Jack?" said Sora.

"Yeah," said Jack, examining a toy soldier that stood on the dusty shelves, it's arm had broken off and was left disturbingly eyeless.

"Well, there's these serial killers in Traverse Town, and we need to find out where they are at the moment, so in the meantime, you could go back to Halloween Town, and give us a call if you see them ok?" said Sora carefully, Jack looked at him, still clutching the toy soldier.

"Serial Killers? That's serious, of course I'll tell you when I see them, I better get back to Halloween Town quick, just in case they _are_ there and-and Sally and everyone! Sorry I have to leave like this but it's urgent! Bye Sora and everyone else!" said Jack hurriedly, and he vanished, taking the toy soldier with him.

"Not that we would have missed it anyways," said Elena, noticing that he had taken the toy soldier.

"OK, Elena, grab that laptop and we'll head back into the room," said Tseng, walking back into the room with the brown table, everyone else followed him while Elena obediently fetched the laptop and ran into the other room to avoid another encounter with a paranormal creature. She slammed it down in front of Tseng, she blushed and sat at her seat beside Rude, before operating the laptop, Tseng checked to see if it wasn't damaged from Elena banging it down hard, it wasn't scratched, he then switched it on and got it working. His fingers clicked the buttons rapidly as he searched for the map of Gaia, when he retrieved it, he clicked onto Midgar, quickly, the screen was covered in the areas of Midgar, Tseng kept the arrow on Sector 8, he turned to face everyone. "Ok, first things first, we start the search in Midgar, but seeing as we have a large amount of people helping us, we're gonna have to split ourselves in groups," said Tseng, looking at the worried eyes of the crowd.

"What happens if we can't find them in Midgar?" said Yuffie.

"We search somewhere else," said Tseng, Sora looked at him. "How about after if we can't find them here, we go to Hollow Bastion," Sora recommended.

"Or Terrace," Rhianne indicated. Yuffie nodded, understanding what she meant.

"Very well, since they have been last seen on your home world," said Tseng, printing out the map and circling the places in Midgar. "We search Sectors 1-8, that should set things straight," said Tseng, folding the map and placing it on the table. "So there, now our plan has been made, but now to set the groups for who should be going to Sector 1, 2, 3 and so on," he said, the crowd became excited.

Tseng told Cissnei to get the equipment from the wardrobe in the room down the hallway, Ducan got excited at the word equipment, he wondered what they would get. He smiled broadly when he saw all the guns and accessories Cissnei brought out five minutes later.

"Cool, hey look! I'm agent 007," said Ducan, picking up an M6 and holding it above his head, pretending to shoot the ceiling. Marine laughed and examined the shotgun gingerly.

"They're not toys Ducan! Put them down before you shoot someone!" said Roxas worriedly, pushing the gun down to ground level, Ducan sulked. "Aww, but I like acting like 007," he pouted.

"Yeah, but if you wanna get shot, act like 007," said Roxas.

"On second thought, not being 007 doesn't sound too bad," said Ducan abruptly.

Reno's group had Cissnei, Yuffie, Ducan, Marine, Zack, and Elaine. They were going to search in Sector 7. Geoffrey looked over at Reno's group. "I hope they know what they're doing," he mumbled to Aurora.

"You're just worried because Elaine is with them," said Aurora teasingly, Geoffrey went red.

"What? Am not, what gave you? What?" prattled Geoffrey. Aurora giggled.

"Yeah, yeah, just don't give it a late time to tell her your feelings," said Aurora.

"Feelings? Ok let's just not talk about this okay," said Geoffrey hastily.

"Ok then," said Aurora, giggling. She stood in her group and waited to get ready to Search Sector 5. Yuffie looked at Reno.

"Scared?" she asked.

"A little, ok maybe a lot, but c'mon this is serious, anything could happen," said Reno frighteningly. Yuffie nodded in sympathy and gave Reno's hand a squeeze.

"Don't worry, I'm scared too," she whispered. Tseng suddenly gave the signal and the others rushed out of the building with their equipment, Reno held Yuffie hand tightly, she hung on. Not wanting to let him go. Ducan put his arm around Marine to make her feel protected, this was it, if they did find them, there could be a chance that one would not come back alive, Yuffie had a worry eating at the back of her mind, what if Reno was the one that didn't come back alive. She bit her lip for thinking that, she held tighter onto Reno's hand, she wouldn't be able to bear it if she'd lose him. The groups had split away from the people, Reno's group was left in the eerie silence of Sector 8, Reno looked at his watch, 3:00.

"Ok, Let's go to Sector 7, see if we can find anything there, Lord help us if we do," said Reno, Yuffie placed her shuriken stiffly in her belt, she got out a pistol that Tseng gave her, Reno looked at her. "Not using the shuriken?" he asked her.

"I will, but Tseng said that we need these if things get messy, it's much easier, I suggest you use it too," said Yuffie, she handed Reno an extra pistol she kept in her pocket, Reno took it from her and put it in his jacket. They then headed off to Sector 7, awaiting what they would find there, praying that they wouldn't find the killers lurking in the shadows of Sector 7.


	10. Chapter 10

**Chapter 10: Accident**

The rain pounded on their heads, puddles of water surrounded Sector 7, the streets empty and dark. Reno watched the empty houses and abandoned Department stores, the sky turned greyish black, the weather suiting the area's surroundings. Yuffie held her pistol close to her chest, waiting for the slightest bit of movement to be made, nothing.

"You think anybody's gonna be here?" she asked Reno, he shook his head.

"I seriously doubt it," he replied. Ducan looked around, his head moving rapidly.

"Where's Darth Vader?" he asked incoherently.

"This isn't Star Wars Ducan!" said Cissnei, loading her Uzis and listening for a sound. Nothing was heard except for the faint sound of cars driving. She sighed. "I don't think anyone's here, we should check further down, maybe we'll find something there," she said.

They wandered further into Sector 7, the sky became darker as the rain poured down heavier, along with hail stones.

"This isn't the kind of thing I was hoping for," said Elaine, wincing as the hail stones hit her red cheeks.

They continued walking through the dark street of Sector 7, spotting through the heavy rain and hail stones, Yuffie saw a very dark alleyway ahead, leading to the other side of Sector 7. It was shifty looking and quiet, quiet being an understatement. The look on Reno's face was self-explanatory.

"Uh oh…hey Zack, how about going in there for us and checking it out, hopefully you'll get rid of whatever's in there," said Reno nervously, trying to pass this chance of going in over to Zack. Zack glared at him.

"How about you go in and hopefully whatever's in there will chop your dick off!" said Zack irately. Cissnei looked at Reno, showing a face of anger towards what he told Zack.

"On second thought, let's all go together, if my dick gets chopped off, my future plans for havin children with Yuffie is out of the question," said Reno, he clapped a hand to his mouth, realising what he said. Yuffie giggled, her cheeks turning rose. Cissnei smiled at the two of them.

"An item now are ye?" she asked them, Yuffie blushed even redder. Reno smiled.

"Yup, more than an item," said Reno, wrapping his arm around Yuffie, Yuffie snuggled up to him. Ducan grinned.

"Reno and Yuffie sittin' in a tree, K-I-S-S-I-N-G, first comes love, then comes marriage, then comes Reno in a baby's carriage!" sang Ducan light-heartedly.

"Hey! Who ever said I was naming the child 'Reno'!" said Yuffie laughing.

"It's a great name, choose it!" joked Reno, Yuffie tapped his nose.

"Nuh uh! Yuffie Kisagari don't likey that name mister Reno Babeno Corneo!" said Yuffie childishly, but jokingly as well.

"More like Yuffie _Corneo!_" teased Marine, and Elaine and Cissnei giggled.

"WHAT! Yuffie Corneo?" said Yuffie astonishingly, she grinned evilly, "but I like what I'm hearing! I like it a lot!" said Yuffie, using quotation marks with her fingers on 'a lot'. Reno smiled at her, he kissed her forehead, which caused Ducan to start making stupid 'wooing' noises. Yuffie hushed him, but blushed all the time.

"So, Reno, are you actually thinking of marrying Yuffie?" Cissnei asked him. Reno looked confused.

"I dunno, it's a little too early to think about that," said Reno, though there was a gleam in his. Cissnei left it at that, but was suspicious about him.

Hours flew by and nothing was seen in Sector 7, Yuffie sighed irritably and moaned for the last five minutes until Zack suddenly gave up.

"Let's just go back to Sector 8, there's nothing in this godforsaken place, there'll be a better chance of finding more things back there than here, c'mon!" said Zack impatiently, Reno gave in and they made their way back to Sector 8, near the Turks' hideout, Elaine peered around for a sign of the others, but something else caught her eye, a figure was moving in the darkness along a barred wall. She patted Reno's shoulder for his attention, he looked back at her.

"Hey Reno, there's something, or someone lurking near that barred wall, should we check it out?" she asked nervously, Reno nodded and they all slowly stepped closer to the narrow opening in the barred wall, the gate covering the opening was opened. Reno held his breath, he could here the soft rustle of the bushes behind the wall, someone was there all right. Yuffie hid herself well behind him, she held her pistol tightly against her collarbone. Zack took his sword out in a organised position, he waited for an attack to be called out. Nothing, yet. The rustling grew more vigorously, Elaine's eyes grew big with worry, she clutched her rifle close to her, feeling it's cool metal brush against her neck. Suddenly the bushes rustled faster, a skin-head shot out from the opening and started shooting at them with his shotgun, the group dodged behind safe places, where they could lay low for a second to regain what they learnt and attack the enemy. The skin head prowled, grinning viciously as he searched for his prey, the shotgun fully loaded and ready to terminate anything that didn't appeal to him.

Yuffie breathed heavily, filling her pistol with bullets, she fixed the bullets in and wiped the oil from the opening of the gun. She waited until she was ready to target the skinhead. As she saw the tip of his boot peek a bit out from where she was hiding, she got up rapidly and started shooting him like a maniac, he dodged her bullets and gave one fire from his shotgun at Yuffie's shoulder, the aim was perfect and the bullet tore through Yuffie's flesh, impaling her shoulder blade. She screamed as it broke through her bone, blood leaking from every corner of the wound, it ran like a waterfall from her shoulder down her chest and stained her shirt scarlet. Reno, terrified, ran out from his hiding place and caught a badly wounded Yuffie by the arm, he balanced her in his arm as he held the pistol with his other hand, the skinhead smiled.

"One chick down, let's see what other pressies are available to shoot besides the redheaded f**ker in front of me!" he snarled, Reno gritted his teeth, holding the pistol so hard that his hands turned red. Zack then ran out from his hiding place and speared the skinhead through his stomach with his sword, Zack pushed the skinhead against the barred wall, the wires on the wall scratching the skinhead's face, Zack leaned in closer to the skin head, snatching his shotgun off him.

"So, f**ker, where's the rest of your posse? Seeing as you bloody f**king bastards show up in every f**king area and world!" Zack cursed angrily, the skinhead laughed.

"You lookin' for those beautiful dolls we kidnapped, you're searching in the wrong area, but hell am I gonna tell you!" said the skinhead, blood streaming from the inside of his mouth. "You will f**king tell me or I swear I'm gonna chop your shitty head off!" said Zack, pulling the thug's hair.

"Hell no, when the shit hits the fan, the shitter's gonna be the one to impale your bodies!" replied the skinhead. Zack, losing patience, slashed his sword across the neck of the skinhead, it got jammed halfway, the skinhead coughed and spluttered as the sword left him nearly headless, blood spurted from the opening and the veins tangled up in Zack's sword, the bone was cut a bit. Zack took out his sword and swung it one last time, he successfully left the skinhead headless, Zack picked up the bloody head, he struck the sword in the corpse's eyeballs, piecing each of them and pulling them out of their sockets, he chopped the even bloodier head in half and threw it aside.

"Maybe now the poor starving animals will have a good f**king feast out of you, you son of a bitch," said Zack cruelly, he walked over to a small pond and washed his bloody sword and hands. Reno looked at Zack, still holding Yuffie in his arms, Reno placed her leaning against a rock as he stripped his jacket off him and wrapped it around Yuffie. She smiled weakly, the place suddenly started spinning, she felt dizzy and then she fell back, unconscious. Reno picked her up carefully.

"I've got to bring her back to the hideout, she's not going to help us in this state, she'll easily get killed and I'm not gonna let that happen to Yuffie!" said Reno angrily, Zack nodded.

"Here, we'll all go back to the hideout and give Tseng a call, tell him we're leaving Yuffie at the hideout, then we meet up with him in Sector 4," said Zack, putting his bloodless sword into the opening in his belt that was fastened around his back. Reno agreed and followed Zack and the rest towards the hideout.

---

"You feeling ok Yuff? You've had a really bad cut on your shoulder, but it's gonna be ok now."

Yuffie opened her eyes and squinted, she looked around the little room she was in, Reno was at her bedside, she smiled at him and winced as she moved her right arm, her shoulder hurt her.

"Reno…what happened? Where am I?" said Yuffie, feeling a little woozy.

"That bastard skinhead shot your shoulder with his shit shotgun, or even better, shitgun," said Reno trying to sound flippant. Yuffie giggled and tried to hug him with her left arm, he held her carefully as she embraced him. He almost felt like crying, seeing all the trouble she went through, with having getting injured badly in the same place twice and then now this. Yuffie lay back on the comfy pillows, she suddenly frowned.

"But what about the search for Kairi and Isabelle?" she asked worriedly. Reno bit his lip.

"Yuff…I'm sorry…but you can't come," said Reno.

"What? But-but I have to-"

"You can't Yuff! You're injured! You'll get killed-" Reno said firmly. Yuffie started getting tears in her eyes.

"For god's sake Yuff! Why are you crying?" he asked angrily, Yuffie hit him on the arm.

"Because if you go-"

"Yes?"

Yuffie let out a sob. "I'm afraid you'll never come back, and the others will come back with blood on their hands, the blood from your body-" Yuffie cried.

"Stop it! You're being stupid now," Reno snapped.

"Why? Because I care deeply for you Reno, this is a life or death situation and I won't be able to cope if I lose you!" Yuffie sobbed, she closed her eyes and let a fresh stream of tears run down her red cheeks. "I love you so much! Please," said Yuffie, hugging Reno tightly, ignoring the sharp pain stinging on her right shoulder. Reno hugged her back.

"I know, I do too Yuff, but I can't let you, I promise I'll come back, I promise, promise, promise!" said Reno, kissing Yuffie passionately, his mouth pressing against hers, his hands stroking her slender neck, feeling her collarbone and stroking the soft cotton of her bra, feeling the curve of her bosom as his finger stroked the soft cup. Yuffie gasped for breath and continued to kiss Reno, he felt her hot breath against his lip as they broke apart continuously, she fondled the collar on his shirt, fingering the buttons that held his blouse together, she unbuttoned three of them and stroked his exposed chest. Becoming lost in the sensation, Reno found himself feeling Yuffie's breasts underneath her soft shirt, she loved the feeling of his gentle fingers stroking the softness of her front. She pleaded for the rhythm to become less tense, as she beckoned Reno beside her, she gently stroked his cheek, her other hand running through his wild, lank hair, but she didn't mind how lank it was, it was the person inside she loved, she loved _Reno. _He pushed himself towards Yuffie, kissing her lovingly, deepening the kiss as his hands started removing the shirt, revealing the soft black bra, Yuffie felt herself tremble with the excitement, but all was well. He unbuckled the straps that supported her bosom, he felt her exposed busts, their firmness appealing to him, he loved the peachiness of her skin as he kissed her neck all the way down to her breasts, Yuffie moaned at the feeling. She placed her hands on his shoulders, digging her nails into them, Reno let out a little gasp. Becoming electrified, Reno stopped, his heart beating very fast, he looked at the time, Yuffie looked up at him, becoming disappointed by his sudden halt. "Sorry, Yuff, I have to go," he breathed, catching his breath as he fixed his shirt and combed back his hair with his fingers. Yuffie put on her shirt, but left the bra tangled in a heap on the bed. He gave her a big kiss before leaving, Yuffie then stopped him.

"Er…Reno?" she said hurriedly.

"Yeah?" he said, halfway out the door, Yuffie giggled foolishly.

"You might want to take something to cover your excitement…I mean…your tackle is…" her voice trailed off, Reno looked at her and looked down, he blushed and grabbed a cushion. "I'll tell them I was feeling cold…" he mumbled sheepishly and left the building. Yuffie smiled and lay her head back on the pillow, she then went into a deep sleep.

---

Reno arrived in Sector 4, he spotted Zack and the other group standing beside Tseng's group. Zack tapped his foot impatiently when he saw Reno. "Well it's about time you showed up," he answered irritably, he looked down at the cushion, luckily Reno had become less excited and didn't have to use the cushion, he instead held it beside him. "Why the hell did you bring that cushion with you Reno?" said Zack.

"Just in case I feel cold," answered Reno tranquilly, Zack nodded and Tseng looked at Reno with annoyed eyes.

"OK, now we can finally discuss things, are the others back yet?" Tseng asked, scrutinizing the far end of the area they were in. Suddenly the other groups came running up to them, they all stood in a circle around Tseng, Tifa looked at Reno.

"Where's Yuffie?" she asked threateningly and worriedly.

"If you damn did anything to her Reno, I swear I'm gonna shoot this straight through your crotch!" said Barrett, loading his gun.

"What? I didn't do anything to her, she's at the hideout, she got shot by some damn f**king skinhead, ask Cissnei or Zack if you don't believe me!" said Reno, feeling annoyed.

"Oh, sorry Reno," Tifa apologised, Reno shook his head.

"It's ok, so, Tseng, what were you gonna discuss?" said Reno looking at Tseng, Tseng cleared his throat.

"About the skinhead our group encountered, he only mentioned that we were searching the wrong place, but no other further information was said from him, he just dropped dead in his own pool of blood," said Tseng, Elena nodded.

"That's exactly what the f**ker we met told us too!" said Zack hotly. Sora looked at him.

"So you guys met one of those killers as well? I was with Tseng, that guy hardly said anything useful, so I think we leave Midgar and search Hollow Bastion! They might likely be there! Kairi used to live in Hollow Bastion y'know! That's probably where they took them!" said Sora pleadingly, wanting to get out of Midgar as soon as possible to find Kairi and Isabelle. Zack stood and thought over it. Tseng agreed immediately. "Very well, let's move out then!" he answered, getting ready to leave Sector 8. Sora grinned triumphantly, following Tseng, Ducan had to stop to tie his shoelace so Marine waited for him with Elaine and Reno. When they were ready, they followed Tseng out of Sector 8.

***************************************

---

Hollow Bastion's town was a bit shabbier than Sora remembered, the walls had been damaged by what looked like shootings, less people trailed the town's path and there was no sign of Donald's Uncle Scrooge anywhere, he had removed his shop from the town completely. "Probably he moved to Traverse Town," murmured Donald. Sora nodded obediently, but had a bad feeling about it. Why were less people appearing here each day?

"Hey Sora, I'm gonna go down to Merlin's house and check things out, either way, the town's just gotten stranger," said Leon, and he ran ahead through the abandoned town. Sora stood next to Tseng, he looked around. "Not a very big area," he said eventually, Sora shrugged.

"It wasn't like this before," Sora answered flatly, "I think they might've been here."

"You mean to say, we lost them?" said Elena disappointingly.

"No, I dunno, we'll just have to split up again and search the place," said Sora and he followed Tseng's group toward the Rising Falls. Reno's group had to search The Crystal Fissure and onwards from there, the crystals gleamed as they entered the small crack, the walls were shining dark blue, the sun had escaped through the small cracks in the walls, making the place a rainbow colour from the reflection of the crystals. Elaine smiled at the welcoming company, she then removed her daze from the crystals to the surrounding area. No sign of the enemies in the Crystal Fissure, they moved on. The sun disappeared over the tall blue rocky walls, shadowing the area. Cissnei kept a sharp eye out for anymore skinheads, the place was eerily quiet, the dryness of the place was noticeable, no drop of rain hit these grounds for over two weeks. Reno pursed his lips, listening to the silence of the place, nothing was heard, nothing was seen. Empty. Soundless. Silent.

After minutes of searching, nothing was seen, they doubted even the most dangerous killer would find this place a worthy hideout for them to lay low. Elaine sighed.

"For god's sake! We've been searching and searching but it only seems we were searching for nothing but air in this place! What a great threat to Hollow Bastion!" said Elaine sarcastically, Cissnei sniggered at her sarcasm.

"You've got a point there, Elaine," said Cissnei, "the others probably found something, but us, heh, we found absolutely nothing!"

"Absolutely zilch!" said Ducan happily, holding his M6 close to him and cradling it like his own child. He then accidentally fire it at the rocky wall, it blew it up, sending piles of large boulders flying down over their heads, Elaine screamed.

"DUCAN YOU IDIOT! LOOK WHAT YOU DID NOW!" she shouted frantically.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" Ducan wailed pathetically.

Some of the boulders smashed against the other wall across from them, causing that wall to give way and more boulders to come rolling down towards them.

"Let's get out of here!" shouted Cissnei, running towards the Crystal Fissure with the others. Ducan dragged Marine towards the Crystal Fissure, a boulder caught hold of her boot, she fell to the ground. "Ducan!" she screamed.

"Marine! Hold on, I'm coming back for you!" said Ducan worriedly, he removed the boulder off her boot and tried to help pick her up, when suddenly more boulders came crashing towards them.

"Ducan…" Marine said, unable to say anymore, she hugged Ducan tightly, waiting for her demise. Ducan held her close.

"WAIT! DUCAN! MARINE! GET OUTTA THERE!" Elaine yelled, but it was too late, the opening in the Crystal Fissure was blocked by a large boulder, they heard loud bangs, and then silence when the boulders had lain on the dull ground. Elaine clapped a hand to her mouth, she couldn't believe it, she refused to believe it. Ducan and Marine…not coming back.

"Oh god, what will Aurora say when she finds out Marine's dead along with Ducan," Elaine whispered, tears appearing in her eyes and they rolled down her cheeks and dripped on the dark floor. Reno stood in the background, his eyes closed, he felt he was somehow responsible for their death. He banged his head on the wall.

"What the hell are you doing to yourself Reno?" Cissnei asked, Zack was silent, Reno stopped banging his head on the wall.

"I just can't believe I let this happen to them! Why didn't I help them?" he said angrily, Zack shook his head.

"There was nothing we could do, if we all stopped there like sitting ducks, neither of us would be coming back right?" said Zack forlornly.

"I guess so," said Reno, he still couldn't help feeling guilty when they entered the lonesome town once more. Tseng's group arrived in an hour, he looked puzzled at the short amount Reno had.

"Reno--where are--?" Aurora asked, not believing the obvious.

"A rockslide broke out when Ducan fired a shot at the rocky walls, boulders were falling everywhere, Marine got her boot stuck in one and Ducan went for her aid, but of them were most likely crushed underneath the boulders---" he said, pausing, "I'm sorry," he added sadly.

"Oh--!" she spat out, her tone changing to a miserable one, she let out a sob. "No wonder I felt as if part of me was missing, oh god, Marine, Ducan!" she sobbed, clinging onto Axel, who couldn't believe what he was hearing.

"You mean to say--hell no," said Axel quietly, frowning, he shook his head in disbelief. "No you're joking right? Ducan? No, no," said Axel, half-laughing, he then stopped when he seen the look on their faces. "I see…damn," said Axel sorrowfully.

The others appeared suddenly, blood shining on their clothes and faces, Barrett looked as though he was about to shoot someone in a minute. "Those motha f**kin skinheads will face hell once I'm through with them!" cursed Barrett, thank goodness Marlene and Denzel were at home where they couldn't hear Barrett.

"What? They were here too?" said Sora nervously.

"Yup, 'bout two or three of them where we were standing, shitting the place and everythin' with their bloody damn guns," said Geoffrey angrily, Tifa nodded.

"The skinheads that we killed said this before they died, "If you're searching for the two chicks we kidnapped, you're searching the wrong place, we've taken them to a place where even the dead would find pleasing," what the hell is that? Some kinda code?" said Tifa, flexing her blood-covered arms.

"I dunno, but maybe we should check in Traverse Town next-"

"No, Sora," said Rhianne.

"What? Why not?" Sora asked, feeling annoyed.

"Next place, Terrace." she answered agitatedly.


	11. Chapter 11

**Chapter 11: Terrace**

Yuffie sat at her bed, her knees up to her chin, thinking deeply. _Why are they taking so long? _She sighed and shook her head. _Get a grip Yuffie, honestly, it's not like they're gonna find them in double quick time!_ Suddenly the door opened, Yuffie looked up hopefully, but it was just Toki coming in with a cup of tea. "Sorry it took some time, Yuffie, but this place is so shabby and disorganised, and there're cockroaches everywhere, I couldn't leave the place like that," Toki apologised, giving Yuffie her green tea, Yuffie looked at it, she wasn't very fond of green tea, but thanked her and drank it politely. Toki fixed her bandages and closed the curtains, she sat down beside Yuffie's bed on a little wooden stool.

"Is anything the matter, dear?" she asked Yuffie, patting her arm gently. Yuffie didn't know that she noticed she was worried.

"Oh…em, it's just…" Yuffie began, she twiddled her thumbs.

"I know, you miss Reno don't you," said Toki, stroking Yuffie's hair as if she were her own daughter.

"It's not just that, it's…well, I'm just scared he won't come back," Yuffie whispered. Toki chuckled.

"He will, I'm sure of it, just try to relax," said Toki soothingly.

"OK, I'll try," said Yuffie, snuggling under the covers, but she couldn't stop worrying, she then eventually fell asleep in the quiet company.

**********************************

---

The streets were wrecked, rocks covered each path, the grass had grown wildly, trees surrounded the area. Reno never saw anything like it, Terrace was most definitely in ruins, Sora looked at Rhianne, whose eyes were shining with tears. "This is Terrace?" he asked her. She nodded.

"See? This is why I left this place, everything's destroyed here, the Heartless destroyed this place, nothing's the same anymore," she said, her voice cracking, she let a tear drip down her face. "It's sad having to come back to you're wrecked up home world," she replied.

"Oh, but it's for a good cause," said Sora.

"Yeah…but," she said, then she shook the though away, "C'mon, let's move on, I get a strange feeling that they might be here," said Rhianne, taking a step forward into the wrecked area. The group followed, everything was destroyed, no sign of a living creature roamed these paths, all was quiet.

After an hour of exploring further into Terrace, Rhianne suddenly spotted a large building up ahead. "Hey, that wasn't here before, Terrace was meant to be an abandoned world, no one lives here!" said Rhianne confusingly. They looked up ahead, the building was grey with a vast amount of windows, Reno looked carefully at the building.

"Y'know, they could be in there! Let's go in! It's the only chance we have of finding these killers and Kairi and Isabelle too!" said Reno, Tseng nodded.

"But before we go inside, just remember, some of us may not come out alive, just remember your strategies, it'll help you a lot, now let's move!" said Tseng, bringing his group with him towards the tall building. The rest followed, knowing that once they reach the building, they'd have to split up, once more. As they approached the building, nobody attacked them, Tseng guessed that they might be hiding inside and they entered.

Reno's group searched the ninth floor, the corridors were uncannily empty, the lights were dim and flickered a bit, they checked the rooms close by, most of them were empty along with office supplies and computers inside. They reached a door that was shut, they heard low voices, Reno held his breath and instructed the others to get their weapons ready. After that, they opened the door quickly, in front of them was six skinheads, Isabelle and Kairi sat at a chair, tied up with tape around their mouth. They mumbled, looking terrified. The skinhead nearest to them smirked evilly. "Well look who we have here. More presents from outside I see, let's skin their bodies and rip out their organs," said the skinhead grotesquely, Elaine frowned. "You're the ones that are gonna get your asses kicked and skinned, so cut the shit and we'll just get this over with!" she snarled.

"With pleasure, beautiful," said the other skinhead as he took out his rifle, along with the other skinheads. Reno and the group attacked them violently, blood splashing in every corner as they fought relentlessly. A couple of the thugs heads were cut off and crashed against the wall in a bloody mess, the carpet was stained in blood, covering half of it, the skinhead shot Cissnei's leg, she screamed and limped to the ground, Zack threw his sword and it speared through the skinhead's stomach, pinning his intestine to the wall and the skinhead dropped dead in a pool of blood. Reno shot the skinhead through his mouth, in five minutes, the whole room was covered in blood, all six of the skinheads lay buried in their blood, Reno sighed with relief and smiled at Elaine.

"I'm afraid I'm going to have to wipe that smile off your face," said a voice from the door, they looked back and saw a man in a black suit, standing at the door, smiling at them with an untrustworthy face.

"Roger! Don't tell me you work with these guys!" said Reno worriedly.

"Of course I do you bastard! Ever since I left that bloody Turks crap, this is what I wanted all along, and you're not going to spoil the boss's work! I won't let you! It all ends here, Reno Corneo!" shouted Roger. Reno bit his lip.

"Elaine, take Isabelle and Kairi and go! I'll deal with this guy!" said Reno quickly.

"But-"

"GO!" Reno instructed, facing Roger.

Elaine nodded obediently, she started untying Isabelle, Roger spotted her. "Oh no you don't you bitch!" he yelled.

He pointed his gun at Elaine, Reno hastily went in front of Elaine and felt his waist get shot. "Ugh!" he groaned as blood spilled from the wound.

"Reno!" shouted Elaine.

"Move! I'll deal with Roger!" said Reno hurriedly, he pushed Elaine and Isabelle away and they exited the room. Leaving Reno to face his old time friend.

---

Elaine ran out of the building, dodging the thugs that tried to attack them, Zack and Cissnei followed her, they skidded around at corner and ran down the stairs, avoiding the elevator just in case they might sabotage it on their way down. They finally made it outside, panting and catching their breath, Zack wrapped a cloth around Cissnei's arm to stop the bleeding.

"Where's Reno?" said Elaine, looking back, "wouldn't he have dealt with that guy quickly? Or d'ya think that guy dealt with Reno?" she asked worriedly.

"I dunno, but we've got to wait here for the others," said Zack, peering around the place. Suddenly the others appeared with Kairi, Sora smiled broadly. "You've got Isabelle!" he shouted triumphantly. "Hey, where'd Reno go?" Cloud asked. "Don't tell me he died already?" said Elena.

"Why isn't he with you?" said Rude, checking to see if the thugs weren't after them.

"He's back in the building with some guy called Roger," said Zack.

"Roger! I thought he'd died years ago!" said Rude. Tseng appeared with a bomb.

"Everyone out, we're gonna blow up this damn building," said Tseng, clutching the time-bomb.

"Wait! Reno's still in there!" said Elaine.

"What? Get him out you idiots!" Tseng replied angrily."He's in there himself, fighting Roger!" said Elaine furiously. Tseng put a hand on his forehead.

"If he doesn't come within ten minutes, we're gonna have to face the fact that he probably died and blow up this building," said Tseng sternly, Elaine scowled at him, and stamped her foot.

"Fine! Let him die! As if you cared anyways! O god please let him come, Yuffie needs you Reno," said Elaine sadly.

---

The time flew by, ten minutes passed and Reno still hadn't appeared. Tseng sighed and looked at Rude. "That's it, we're blowing the place up whether you like it or not, those thugs aren't gonna go cause anymore damage all because someone didn't turn up," said Tseng hotly, he walked towards the building, suddenly Reno appeared, covered in blood, Elaine went to his aid and wrapped her jacket around him, trying the stop the blood leaking out from his waist. "You need to go to the hideout, fast!" said Elaine, helping a limping Reno. He smiled at her. "Thanks," he murmured.

"Tseng, get ready to set that bomb and we'll get out of here!" said Elena, Tseng set the bomb for 5 minutes and they ran quickly away from the building and out of Terrace.

************************************************

Yuffie watched them all pile in the room, she looked at Reno's bloody waist and gasped. Suddenly ignoring her wounded shoulder, she went to Reno and started helping Toki and Elaine clean the wound and bandage it.

"Looks like you won't be going anywhere for a long time," said Yuffie, giggling, Reno smiled.

"Hey, at least I'm alive! Can't complain about that!" said Reno, Yuffie kissed him on the cheek fondly.

Toki cleaned the blood off the flannel and placed it on the counter beside Yuffie's bed. She turned to Yuffie and Reno.

"Well, I guess you'll be sleeping in this room for the night Reno, you don't mind do you," said Toki, smiling kindly.

Yuffie looked at Reno, Reno caught her eye and grinned. "Nope, not one bit, I'll be ok," he said suspiciously.

"Ok then, try to be careful with your wound ok Reno?" said Toki, getting ready to leave the two of them in peace and go downstairs with the others.

"I will, Toki, thanks," said Reno, putting his arm around Yuffie. Yuffie smiled happily, cuddling up to Reno. Toki left the room without another word. Yuffie looked at Reno, smiling suspiciously.

"You wanna continue where we left off?" she asked curiously, stroking his cheek. Reno took a nervous glance at his waist and her shoulder.

"Would we manage?" he asked, Yuffie giggled.

"If we're extra careful, yeah!" she responded lively, Reno grinned at her.

"OK then, you asked for it!" said Reno, kissing her, his hands starting to pull the hem of her shirt and pull it over her head, she broke away from him, grabbing his wrists.

"Oh no you don't Turkey! This time, I'll take the lead since you're hurt," she said playfully, Reno smirked and laughed.

"As you wish, your highness," said Reno, taking his hands away from her. She kissed him hungrily, unbuttoning his blouse, the bandage was visible when the blouse was removed, she pushed the blouse off his shoulders and started removing her shirt. Reno unzipped the zipper on his trouser, pushing it off him, it fell on the ground beside Yuffie's short trousers. Reno pushed Yuffie against the headboard, kissing her smoothly, his hands firmly grabbing her bosom, stroking the softness of her skin. She pulled down her underwear, kicking it off her ankles, Reno did just the same, Yuffie looked up at him.

"You ok?" she asked him carefully.

"Yep, a little stingy on the waist, but I'm being careful, but when I'm with you, it's hard," he answered cheekily.

"Flatterer, yet again, don't try anything that will hurt yourself," Yuffie warned him.

"I won't, I promise," said Reno, kissing Yuffie and pulling her closer to him so that she could finally become his. His pelvis banged against hers as he lay on her, Yuffie loved the sensational feeling inside her, her instincts taking control of her. She wrapped her arms around Reno's neck and pulled him towards her, kissing him tenderly, the sweetness of his kiss spreading across her mouth, she kissed his neck affectionately, mesmerizing him. He pushed her down on the pillows and brought himself into her. Yuffie smiled to herself, she was happy that he had come back alive, there was nothing to worry about anymore, nothing at all. She lay there with her loved one, feeling the moon's light reflecting on their bodies as they lay beside each other in a deep sleep.

---

Yuffie woke up suddenly, it was six o'clock in the morning, the early sun shone in through the curtains, making the room dimly lit, she heard Toki talking to Kairi and Isabelle, Kairi's flu sounded even worse. She heard Kairi blow her nose constantly into a tissue, Toki sympathised her and asked her if she wanted tea, Kairi accepted, her nose blocked up from the flu. The kettle was heard and a clatter of mugs were heard being placed on the counter. Yuffie lay back, unable to get a wink of sleep since it was really early in the morning. She looked beside her, Reno slept soundlessly under the covers, still stark naked, Yuffie giggled quietly and blushed. She gently kissed his cheek, without waking him of course. She lay back on her pillows and gazed at the curtains, the light outside making it luminous. She suddenly drifted off to sleep.

---

12:30, Yuffie opened her eyes a second time, she rubbed them tiredly and looked around, Reno had gone from the room, she felt a bit disappointed. She got up and got dressed, she could faintly hear talking from downstairs, Yuffie exited the room and made her way down the stairs and into the kitchen. Reno, Sora, Kairi and the others were talking around the brown table, they looked up and saw Yuffie who blushed with embarrassment.

"HEEEEEEEEEEEEEY Yuffie!" greeted Sora cheerily, Kairi smiled, her nose still red from the flu.

"Hi Yuffie! Long time no see, it feels great to be back safely from those maniacs!" said Kairi, sniffing because her nose was blocked.

"It's great to have you and Isabelle back, I was afraid we'd never see you again!" said Yuffie, hugging Kairi and Isabelle tightly.

"Aww, the grand Ninja Yuffie missed us! But we didn't need to worry because, DUM, DUM!! Grand Ninja Yuffie will save us along with the Keyblade Master!" said Kairi jokingly, embarrassing poor Yuffie. Reno chuckled, Yuffie blushed redder. Isabelle giggled.

"We're only joking Yuffie, wouldn't want to show you up in front of your boyfriend!" said Isabelle happily.

"Oooooh! Reno Corneo and Yuffie Kisagari! YOWZA! Is it getting hot in here or what?" said Sora humorously, causing Yuffie too blush more.

"Oh Reno! Kiss me baby!" joked Axel, pretending that he was Reno kissing an invisible Yuffie.

"Oh Yuffie, you're so fine!" said Riku, joining in on the joke, Sora went a bit too enthusiastic and tried the joke too.

"Oh Reno! Faster!" Sora joked.

"Whoa Yuffie! That's more like it!" said Axel.

"Ouch! Reno, don't hurt me!" said Riku.

"Oh Reno, you're such a RIDE! Faster, Reno, faster!" said Sora, Axel and Riku looked at him.

"What? I'm only joking!" said Sora, Riku and Axel laughed at him.

"Is that what you're like with Kairi?" said Axel, laughing helplessly.

"Is that what you're like with Aurora?" said Sora, poking Axel's skinny arm.

"All right, that's enough you two," said Aurora, Axel and Sora hushed immediately. Hayner laughed.

"Aww, funny," he said, stopping his constant laughter. Yuffie looked at Reno and giggled foolishly, Reno smiled and reached over to plant a kiss on her lips, Hayner and Roxas wolf-whistled.

"Yow! The couples have just kissed!" said Hayner.

"And a future image of you and Olette!" joked Roxas, Hayner bopped his head hard.

"Shut up, you mop head!" said Hayner, Roxas smiled.

"OK, ok," he said, rubbing his sore head. Yuffie laughed, she smiled at the company of her friends, she then felt her mobile vibrate in her pocket, she took it out and checked it. Reno looked at her curiously, likewise Sora.

"What's wrong?" said Sora, noticing the look on Yuffie's face.

"Oh, it's just I have to go back to Wutai for some reason, Renvia just said that, I don't know why, dear god I hope it's not another killing spree, as if we hadn't enough already, I have to go. Bye you guys!" said Yuffie running out the door. She wondered what it was, what was happening in Wutai?


	12. Chapter 12

**Chapter 12: Separating**

Wutai was dark and rain fell heavily down on its surroundings, Yuffie brushed her wet hair out of her face and looked up at her house, what did Renvia want? She went up to the front door and went inside, the house was quiet, Yuffie looked around her house and called out for Renvia.

"Renvia? Are you here?" Yuffie asked unintelligently. She heard footsteps, and Renvia appeared at the top of the stairs on the landing.

"Miss Kisagari, I didn't think you'd get my message," said Renvia, sadness filled her tone.

"Renvia? What is it? Why did you want me here?" Yuffie asked curiously. Renvia clutched her chest.

"Your father, Godo, wanted to speak to you." said Renvia nervously, she pointed upstairs, "he's in his room, it's urgent, you should go to him right away," she said and Renvia left Yuffie alone at the bottom of the stairs while she went back to her duties. Yuffie felt anxious, why did Godo want to speak to her? She held her breath and slowly opened the door to her father's room.

"Yuffie, my daughter, it's lovely to see you again," he said blandly, as if it wasn't great to see her again, she swallowed, unable to say the simplest thing. "This is very urgent Yuffie, I must speak to you straight away, it's about you and…a certain Turk," he said, his voice raising a bit. Yuffie recoiled by the door, frightened at what he would say about her and Reno. Godo looked at her with fury in his eyes, he cleared his throat. "I am to believe that my soldiers found you and that Turk in the house, a few days ago, am I right?" he asked her, his eyes filled with anger.

"Yes," Yuffie replied in a mousey tone. She still stood a few metres away from her father, Godo nodded, his lips shut tightly, forming a straight line on his mouth.

"I see, so you lied to me, disrespected you own father, out of the goodness of his heart," he replied harshly, his tone hardening. "You're no daughter of mine! Who is this Turk? Tell me!" he ordered angrily.

"No…I can't tell you…I won't," she whispered, Godo's face flushed red with fury. He banged his fist on the counter.

"Tell me!" he ordered again, this time with more anger.

"No!" Yuffie disobeyed.

"You will tell me Yuffie! Or I will have to get through to you!" warned Godo.

"No! I can't tell you!" Yuffie yelled. Godo clenched his teeth.

"Yuffie Kisagari! If you don't tell me this instant I swear you will be banished from Wutai!" he roared at her, Yuffie looked at him with shocked eyes.

"Banished from Wutai? NO! I can't be! I can't be banished from Wutai, it's my home!" said Yuffie frantically.

"If you don't tell me who it is this Turk is, then so be it, it's your choice Yuffie! Tell me," he ordered, turning his back on her, Yuffie bowed her head.

"Fine, it's Reno," she hissed, tears appearing in her eyes. Godo turned to her abruptly.

"Reno? That Turk! You're with him! What were you thinking Yuffie! A Turk! They're bad people!" he yelled, Yuffie stood her ground.

"He's changed father! He quit the Turks! He's different!" she insisted, Godo shook his head.

"I don't believe it! If he was a Turk from the start, he's always going to be one!" he said furiously.

"What kinda shit talk is that? He's not bad anymore! D'YOU UNDERSTAND ME!" Yuffie shouted irritably, Godo looked at her.

"I do understand, and don't use such language in front of me you filthy vermin! You've disgraced me, so who was that at my ball in the Imperial Temple?" he asked her heatedly.

"Reno! He was disguised as Jonathan OK? There I told you, but I don't care! I love him and he loves me!" she said defiantly, Godo went red and turned his back on her.

"Leave this house, don't ever come back!" he said furiously.

"I don't care! I hate this house!" she shouted back, running out of the room, she dashed down the stairs and ran out of the house, not wanting to be near her father. She ran quickly through Wutai, tears cascading down her cheeks, she didn't want to be in Wutai, it seemed like a pretty useless place, she didn't want to be anywhere except with Reno.

---

She arrived in the old building where the others were, she entered it and heard the familiar voices still in the kitchen, the usual chatter from her friends and the Turk members, they laughed as someone said something funny, most likely it was Sora. Yuffie wiped her tear stained face with an old discarded tissue that she found in her house, she threw it in the nearby bin and strolled into the kitchen, keeping her head high, acting like nothing had happened, she opened the door and met the eyes of the people around the table, the chatter hushed as they spotted Yuffie's red eyes from crying.

"Eh, is something the matter Yuff?" asked Sora, Yuffie wiped her eyes one last time and tried to look lively, and cheery and bouncy, like nothing was wrong with her, like she was still Yuffie Kisagari, the one that everyone knew.

"What? Oh no, no, I'm fine, just had to have a little talk with my father about staying in Midgar on a daily basis, nothing serious, what's up? I don't look bothered do I?" she gabbled, Sora shook his head and she heard a chorus of 'oh, no, no, no!' from the crowd of people sitting at the table.

"No, er, you look…not bothered?" said Sora idiotically, Roxas nudged him. "Er…he means you look fine," said Roxas quickly, Yuffie left it at that, wanting to change the subject, she started talking about their journey, asking what they did and saw in that huge building in Terrace, they all continued talking, happily forgetting about the way Yuffie looked when she came in, Reno joined in the chat, but still planned to talk to Yuffie after they leave the hideout.

The crowd of people left the old building, returning to their normal houses back into their normal lives, Sora was saddened by this, he missed the sense of adventure and seeing everyone again, but it couldn't last forever and he had to go back to Destiny Island with his friends Riku, Kairi, Sakria and his sister Violet. Aurora was going back to Destiny Island as well with Axel and Lyrix, Roxas suggested that they stay at the island for a night before heading back to Twilight Town. But this time, Destiny Island will be short of two people, Marine and Ducan. Aurora felt her heart hurt as she thought of the two of them, gone forever, she controlled herself from bursting into tears and hugged Yuffie, saying goodbye to her and to keep well. She left Yuffie with Reno and followed Sora with Axel, Lyrix, Roxas, Hayner, Pence and Olette. Yuffie sighed, the others were now just a blur in the distance, the Turk members followed Tseng inside the old building, all except Reno, Rude and Elena, Yuffie stood by them.

"So, we'll just be heading back to our apartment, 'kay Reno?" said Elena, patting him on the shoulder, she walked off into the dull evening with Rude, Yuffie watched them fade into the distance, Reno stood near her, she felt his presence beside her. Before Reno could say anything, Yuffie suddenly blurted out.

"You could stay at my place, not the one in Wutai, the one in Sector 7, I was just wondering, 'cos we've more privacy there than in the apartment you stay at with Elena and Rude, if you want," said Yuffie shyly, going red. Reno looked at her.

_This could be a better way to ask her what happened in Wutai without disruptions…_

"Um, ok, sure why not," said Reno casually, placing his hands in his pockets. Yuffie smiled weakly, and they headed off towards Sector 7, Yuffie hadn't been to that house in some time, she felt happy to be actually going into a normal, non-royal, cosy house.

They entered the house, it was quite cold, considering that she hadn't been in it for some period of time. Reno walked right behind her, taking in every detail of the house, even though he had been here before. She switched on the lights and walked into the utility, "I'll just turn on the heating for a while," she told Reno as she entered the utility, after she turned the heating on, she appeared back into the kitchen where she saw Reno examining some ornament that stood on the countertop, she smiled.

"Like it, it's some ancient ornament that my grandmother gave me and I brought it along with me, it makes me happy when I just look at it, she was an extraordinary lady," said Yuffie, daydreaming a little.

"Like you," said Reno warmly. Yuffie giggled quietly, she sauntered over to Reno, she stood right beside him, practically cuddling up to him. Reno wrapped his arm around her waist, pulling her close to him, he then suddenly remembered what he was gonna ask her, he turned to Yuffie.

"Hey, wanna go upstairs, there's something I need to ask you," he said quickly, Yuffie nodded in agreement.

"Ok, let's go then," said Yuffie informally, they ambled up the stairs, taking each step slowly, and finally they reached the recognisable door that lead to Yuffie's room, she opened the door and walked into the cosy little room, she closed the curtains since the evening sun had faded below the horizon. Reno hovered by the door, Yuffie laughed and told him to come in, he smiled stupidly and closed the door behind him, Yuffie plopped down on the bedside, she beckoned Reno to sit beside her, he sat down passively. Yuffie turned to him, now noticing how close their bodies were to each other, she felt stupid and shy.

_Hey, how about you try the wild Yuffie Kisaragi move on him, that'll surely get things going!_

Oh no, her stupid perverted brain made it's way back again, she groaned quietly. "Sex isn't everything," she mumbled to her brain, but not quietly enough, Reno heard.

"What? Sex?" he asked her.

"Wha? No, I didn't say that, I said…Rex, my dog, he died _ages_ ago and I was just reminding myself of him…never mind me, what were you going to ask me?" said Yuffie swiftly.

"Oh…yeah, what happened to you in Wutai? And don't think you fooled us Yuffie, we all saw how sad you looked when you came into the kitchen, it's obvious you've been crying, you're eyes were red. What happened?" Reno asked her apprehensively, Yuffie swallowed, she looked straight at Reno.

"He knows that I've been with a Turk," she whispered.

"So? He doesn't know it's me," said Reno cheerily, Yuffie shut her eyes.

"He does," she said in a hushed tone.

"What! How?" he asked incredulously.

"He forced me.""Huh?"

"I told him it was you, at the Imperial Temple disguised as Jonathan as well, he forced me Reno," Yuffie admitted horrifyingly. She waited for his answer, he looked at her in a stunned expression, his expression suddenly fading from shocked to very annoyed. He frowned. "What the f**k? Why the hell did you do that!" he asked her furiously.

"If I didn't, he said I would be banished from Wutai, forever," Yuffie explained hurtfully.

"F**k Wutai! I know it's your home, but d'ya realise now that he could be sending his f**king soldiers after my ass! Isn't ones life more important!" Reno shouted, Yuffie flinched. She let a tear escape from her beautiful dark brown eyes.

"I'm sorry Reno, I had to, please Reno, I can't bear it," said Yuffie, crying.

"I can't bear it either! F**king bloody roll on! I can't possibly f**king bear it if I can't be with you!" he yelled, Yuffie looked at him.

"You mean, you believe that they're going to…_kill you?_" Yuffie whispered fearfully.

"Believe it or not babe, that's what they might do, and that's what I believe," said Reno agitatedly.

"I don't believe it! Reno, please forgive me, I'm so sorry! It wasn't my fault!" Yuffie begged.

"You're so untrustworthy!" Reno shouted back at her.

"Well so were you, you couldn't keep you're tackle in your pants!" Yuffie snapped, she clapped a hand over her mouth. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean that." she apologised quickly, Reno glared at her.

"Sure you didn't, just f**k off bitch!" he snarled, Yuffie felt hurt, she tried to explain but he stormed off, already showing that he didn't want her company. Yuffie watched him leave the room, then she heard the front door slam, she felt very guilty for what she said back there, why did she tell her father, why, why, why?

But she couldn't bear the thought of not being able to go to Wutai, that was her home, she loved Wutai so much. Also she was the princess of Wutai, she had to protect all of it's inhabitants there, if she couldn't who would? Godo's too busy being such a pasha in the pagoda, that he'd be worthless to even think or do anything about Wutai. Da Chao was destroyed because of him, now what replaced it was some other statue of Ling Verra, it sickened her. Yuffie wept away her tears with the edge of her sleeve, it stained her sleeve, the wetness was felt on her skin from the sleeve as it stuck to her wrist. She didn't leave the bedroom, she decided to sit on the bedside, fighting with the decisions she could have made besides her one big mistake.

---

The darkness surrounded Midgar, night fell and Yuffie hadn't shifted from the bed yet, she stayed staring out the window, the rain suddenly pouring down like a bucket of water from heaven. She sighed mournfully, fidgeting with the edge of the quilt, making it creased. She peered out the window and spotted two dark figures walking through the rain, they headed straight for Yuffie's house. Who were they? She decided to ignore it, probably just people passing by the house, not actually going into it. She faded into a vacant mood, but was later interrupted by a bang on the front door, she jerked back into life, becoming more alert. She heard the front door break down, then voices shook the silence, Yuffie held her breath, who was that? Frozen with fear, Yuffie didn't act quick enough to lock the door, heavy footsteps banged against the wooden stairs and the door to Yuffie's bedroom opened. Horror met her eyes, two skinheads entered her room, smiling evilly at her.

"Well lookie here, a little chick all on her own," said the first skinhead, the second one laughed.

"Who are you?" Yuffie asked immediately.

"We're the last two skinheads who survived that bomb in Terrace, the rest of S.C.A.R died, including our boss, but we take matters into our own hands now, so what's a pretty little babe like you doing alone in this house?" he said, leering at her. Both having second thoughts of leaving. Yuffie felt vulnerable, this wasn't what she wanted.

"I live here, now get outta my house or I'll call the cops!" said Yuffie threateningly, the skinheads just laughed.

"Oooh, now why would we do that? Wandering through these places, shooting every god damn thing in sight, we kinda got bored, we need some…I dunno…pleasure," said the skinhead cheekily, Yuffie's eyes shot open wide.

"No way! You f**king get outta my house! You're not doing anything to me, y'hear?" said Yuffie angrily, the skinhead raised an Uzi to her head, Yuffie gasped.

"You don't mind if we rape you d'ya? Cos' if you try anything, we're gonna shoot ya, understand?" said the skinhead, Yuffie felt powerless and shook her head. "No," she whispered. The skinhead smirked.

"Good, hey Jackson, how 'bout I take her first, you can just wait and watch 'kay?" said the skinhead to the other.

"Sure," said Jackson. Yuffie felt frightened, the feeling of his grubby hands on her shoulders was undesirable, she hated it. Just as the skinhead stripped her from her garments, she heard footsteps come up the stairs, the skinhead sighed.

"Go see who it is Jackson, shoot whatever the hell it is!" said the skinhead, the other skinhead, Jackson, left the room and went out the door, a few minutes later they heard gunfire, groaning and someone dropping to the floor. The skinhead on Yuffie sighed, he got up and looked at the door. "I'd better go see myself, like that bastard gets anything done anyways!" said the skinhead, pulling on his underwear and trousers, leaving a bare Yuffie on the bed, he went out the door, Yuffie felt sick and contaminated, suddenly she heard more gunfire, and groaning coming from what sounded like the skinhead. She sat up suddenly, wondering who it was, she wrapped the blanket around her nude body. The door opened, and in came a redhead, Yuffie couldn't believe her eyes. It was Reno.

"Reno! I thought you left!" said Yuffie excitedly.

"I did, but then I felt bad for what I said, so I was going back to apologise when I seen that your front door was broken down, I panicked, I thought these murderers went into your house and were going to kill you! Thank f**k for that!" said Reno, Yuffie smiled. "I'm so sorry Reno, I really am, I'm such a bitch for telling Godo!" said Yuffie.

"Ah, it's nothing, I shouldn't have gotten worked up over something so stupid, ole' Godo would halfta find out sooner or later, and you know what, we don't give a shit!" said Reno angrily. Yuffie giggled.

"Oh Reno, thanks!" said Yuffie, Reno looked at her.

"Why are you naked?" he asked, Yuffie blushed, pushing the blankets further up so that it hit her chin.

"I--that skinhead, well, he…raped me," said Yuffie, the word sickening her.

"F**king shit head! I'm actually proud at what I did back there because those f**king bastards deserved it!" said Reno angrily, Yuffie laughed and hugged Reno, the blanket still draped around her body. Reno kissed her lovingly, stroking her black hair, he whispered into her ear. "I guess I should go clean that bloody mess up then," he whispered to her.

"You better, I'd hate to have blood all over the place with a pair of dead men on the ground," she said. Reno exited the room. Yuffie decided to quickly get dressed before he came back, five minutes later the door opened and Reno entered the room, his hands a bit wet. Yuffie looked at him.

"I had to wash my hands after disposing of the dead bodies," he said, wiping his moist hands on his trousers. Yuffie nodded, she looked hopefully out the door.

"I think I'd better have a shower, you don't mind waiting here do you?" said Yuffie heading straight for the door.

"No, not one bit, it is _your_ room after all babe," said Reno fawningly, Yuffie giggled.

"Again with the flattering comments, Reno Babeno," said Yuffie light-heartedly, Reno smiled at her.

"Dunno where you got that daft name, but it's starting to fit in, which is not a good thing, Yuffie Wuttie!" said Reno jokingly, Yuffie snorted with laughter.

"Yuffie Wuttie! That's new, said at the start and now you're gonna start saying again?" said Yuffie, hands on hips, looking straight at Reno.

"You said it babe," said Reno.

"I told you before not to call me that, it's Yuffie or Yuff to you!" said Yuffie, shaking her head, shoulders shaking with laughter.

"Ok, Yuffie babe," said Reno, Yuffie sighed and tittered.

"You're such a difficult person…but I still love you," Yuffie responded with a wink, she then disappeared from the room into the bathroom. Reno waited comfortably in her room, looking at all her well-thumbed books of Wutai, Harry Potter, Jacqueline Wilson, Marita Conlon McKenna and other authors. He spotted a few old dolls on the shelf, he smiled. Yuffie then appeared ten minutes later, her hair all washed and dried. She smiled at Reno, Reno spotted her and smiled, doing a jokey wolf-whistle. She blushed.

"Sexy Yuffie has just come back from her royal shower," said Reno, eyeing her legs. "I just wanna say that you've got lovely legs Yuff!" he added fondly.

"You're probably wanting to grope them," said Yuffie jokingly, Reno smiled at her suspiciously, "Joke! I'm joking, Reno, stay away from me!" Yuffie warned as Reno got up from the bed and walked over to Yuffie. "Aaagh!" Yuffie squeaked.

"I'm not gonna touch you, you idiot, but those peachy legs are so tempting," Reno joked, placing his hands on her hips, Yuffie smiled.

"So you wanna get cosy eh Reno Babeno?" Yuffie teased, placing her hands on his shoulders, her face near his, their lips almost touching. Reno smiled at her, tightening the grip on her hips, her kissed her, pulling down her shorts, exposing her peach thighs, he touched them tenderly. Yuffie giggled nervously, she pushed her mouth against his, strengthening the kiss, she unbuttoned his blouse, he pulled up her shirt over her head, fondling her exposed breasts. She kissed his neck and stroked his chest, the hotness of her breath on his neck made him feel aroused, he pushed her down on the bed and kissed her neck, his mouth reaching down to her breasts, Yuffie enjoyed the feeling of his hot breath tingling her body, she unzipped his trouser and he pushed it off him, the same with his underwear, Yuffie giggled. "That's the first time you're fully naked before me," she said humorously, Reno laughed. Yuffie pulled off her underwear, allowing Reno to make love with her there and now, but bravely enough, Yuffie pushed Reno down on his back, she chuckled and tapped him on the nose. "Nuh uh, Reno Babeno, Grand Ninja Yuffie's gonna take you down," said Yuffie jokingly.

"Oh no, I'm powerless against the princess, fine then, you win, give it to me then," joked Reno, grinning at her. She smiled, kissing his soft lips, she winced at the sensation when she brought herself down on him, she felt a rush of excitement take over her body, she got used to it since it wasn't the first time they had sex, she kissed her loved one, sealing the love for him in one kiss and making love with him was to portray their love, telling him that she only wanted to give her heart to him and only him, showing that she is willing on marrying him and having his children. The night grew longer as the two lovers portrayed their love for each other.

---

Yuffie woke up with a headache in the morning, her mobile vibrated as she got a text message, she picked it up and read through it. It was from Natasha.

"_Hi Yuffie! How was your break, I came back a week earlier because my fiancé recently got sick in Wutai, he's caught the flu, well he kinda deserved it for jumping in that pond for a joke, just to let you know that I've opened the pub, could you come down and give me a help? Tootles! _

_Natasha. _

Oh, so the pub was opened today, she looked at Reno who lay asleep beside her, his bare arms wrapped around her. She smiled at him, carefully pushing his arms away so that she could get out of the bed and into her clothes, then head off for work. She got dressed and washed her face and brushed her teeth, she combed her black hair neatly as it rested against the lower part of her neck, almost to her shoulders. She surfaced from the bathroom and found Reno staring at her, smiling as he rested his head on his hand, his elbow digging into the pillow beside him.

"Where're you going?" he asked her, scratching his head, his lank spiky hair messier than before. His hair was still tied in a ponytail.

"I got a message from my boss Natasha and she says that the pub is open, so I'm going down there to help her out, it's my job anyways," Yuffie responded, fixing her shorts, Reno smiled at her.

"It's gonna be lonely without you," he said, getting up and fetching his clothes.

"I'll be back soon, I promise," said Yuffie kissing him on the lips. Reno looked at her, his blue eyes shining in the sunlight.

"How 'bout I come down to meet you at the pub at closing time, 'kay?" he asked her, kissing her tenderly.

"Ok, see you then, oh god I wish I didn't have to go but I have to help Natasha, you can stay here if you want, or go to see Rude and Elena, I don't mind," said Yuffie, catching her breath after the kiss.

"I was thinking of seeing Rude and Elena so I might just do that, see ya soon babe, oh and one more thing, when you come back from work, how 'bout we go to Costa del Sol for the weekend, your little break Yuff!" said Reno cheerily, Yuffie gasped and kissed him gratefully.

"Oh Reno! That's wonderful! Oh god Reno, you're such a sweetheart for doing that! Oh Reno!" said Yuffie kissing him lovingly, he hugged her tightly and then had to let her go.

"I can't wait to go! Thanks so much!" said Yuffie as she said goodbye to Reno and left the house to go back to her original duties at the pub in Sector 8.

***************

The pub was crowded on a Friday morning, Yuffie peered around for Natasha, she spotted her at the counter dealing with some customer, she'd gotten thinner than before. Natasha spotted Yuffie and grinned.

"Yuffie! It's lovely to see you again darling!" said Natasha sweetly, giving Yuffie a bear hug.

"It's great to see you too, you've lost weight since I last saw you," said Yuffie, taking another glance at her smaller stomach.

"Oh this? I just decided to lay off the sweets for a while, just to fit into my wedding dress," said Natasha, turning her back on Yuffie to make the customer his drink. Yuffie got to work right away, bringing the customers their drinks and dealing with a few of them. The day grew long and tiring, Yuffie still had the idea of Costa del Sol in her head, she felt so happy, nothing could ruin this moment, she told Natasha all about it and Natasha thought it was a great idea. She congratulated her happily, Yuffie then thought of another very important thing.

"Oh Natasha guess what?" said Yuffie cheerfully.

"What?" she asked eagerly.

"I think I might be pregnant," said Yuffie, Natasha looked stunned, a smiled spread across her face.

"Oh Yuffie! What exciting news!" she said excitingly.

"I'm gonna tell Reno my possibility and ask for a check up, if I'm positive, then I'm expecting our baby, I'm actually feeling really happy about this, I wouldn't mind having a child! I wonder what it would look like," said Yuffie happily, Natasha laughed sunnily.

"Hopefully she/he will be one beautiful baby! I'm so happy for you Yuffie!" said Natasha, hugging Yuffie closely, Yuffie smiled but then had to deal with a shabby looking woman who ordered a glass of Brandy. Yuffie happily worked through the day, the hours shortening until it reached 12 0'clock midnight. Yuffie felt butterflies in her stomach, she couldn't wait to go home and tell Reno about the possibility of her pregnancy.

Half twelve came by and the pub emptied quickly, Yuffie smiled broadly.

"Well, I have to go now, see ya on Monday Natasha!" said Yuffie happily.

"Take care child, and congratulations!" said Natasha, grabbing her pink jacket and heading for the door. Yuffie ran all the way back to the house, she opened the door and called for Reno. No answer. Yuffie felt bemused. She called again, nope, silence. Becoming worried, Yuffie looked around the house, he wasn't anywhere to be seen. Then she remembered he was going to meet her at the pub, she panicked and ran out of the house, running all the way back to the pub.

"Reno?" she called nervously, suddenly she saw him, at the pub. She smiled.

"Hey Yuff! I was waiting for you here but you weren't there, where were you?" said Reno confusingly.

"Oh Reno I forgot you were gonna come here, sorry, when I came home I thought you were kidnapped," said Yuffie, hugging him.

"There's no way anyone's gonna separate you from me, I'll never leave you," said Reno, kissing her.

"And you can't leave our baby," said Yuffie.

"Baby?" he asked her confusingly.

"There's a possibility that I might be pregnant Reno," said Yuffie. Reno breathed out excitingly.

"Gods Yuff that's brilliant! Oh god we have to find out!" he said happily, picking up Yuffie and kissing her lovingly. Yuffie smiled, as she kissed him back.

"I love you Reno," she said breathlessly.

"I love you too Yuff, I never wanna leave you," said Reno.

"Not ever?"

"Not even now, never Yuff!" said Reno as he leaned in to kiss her, after the kiss he smiled at her. Suddenly he heard gunfire, and the sound of a gun being cocked. Yuffie looked puzzled, then suddenly another fire was sounded, this time Reno felt the bullet pierce through his stomach, he shouted with the pain. Yuffie gasped, Reno fell forwards on Yuffie, she balanced him with her arms and looked to see who shot Reno. It was Godo's soldiers, with Godo at their side, Yuffie looked at him horrifyingly.

"Father? What are you doing here?" she asked terrifyingly.

"I've no time for answers, men, get that Turk!" shouted Godo.

"NO!" screamed Yuffie as she tried to get in front of Reno, Reno limped and pushed Yuffie away from the soldiers, one of the soldiers grabbed hold of Reno's arms, Reno, being helpless, tried to brake free from their clutches, but was too weak to escape. The other soldier, the one that shot Reno, faced him with a large knife. Suddenly, the soldier speared Reno's chest with the knife, he brought the knife down lower, stopping at his stomach. Reno shouted with the unbearable pain as the blood leaked uncontrollably out of his deep open wound. Yuffie was stunned, too stunned to cry or even scream. Reno fell to the ground, his body weak, Yuffie ran to him and kneeled down to him.

"Reno? Please don't die Reno, PLEASE!" Yuffie begged, shaking with fear, tears appearing in her eyes as he lay before her, the blood oozing from his mouth and out of his wound.

"Yuffie, I-I can't, but…I just need to say…I love you Yuff…I wanted to share my life with you, be with you…I guess it all ends here Yuff, promise, if the test is positive, that you'll look after the baby, even if I'm not there to help you…" he said, his voice becoming heavy, his eyes saw things becoming a bit blurry.

"Don't say that! I won't leave you! I won't let you die! You're not going to die! YOU'LL BE OKAY!" said Yuffie, crying, tears dripping down her cheeks. "Please! I can't, I won't…you can't die!" said Yuffie, hugging him. "I love you," she choked, Reno smiled at her.

"I love you too Yuff, more than life itself, which now, you can see for yourself I can't go on anymore!" said Reno, he winced. "It's kinda useless…I feel strange…oh god…this isn't going well, these days have been the best in my entire life, ever since my parents died…I guess now I'll join them," said Reno, his voice lowering a bit. Yuffie burst into fresh tears.

"NO! DON'T DIE RENO! YOU CAN'T! DON'T DO THIS TO ME! I WON'T LET YOU GO!" shouted Yuffie, kissing his lips one last time. "I love you Reno Corneo, don't forget that," she cried.

"I love you Yuffie Kisagari…hopefully, we'll meet again…someday…in the Lifestream. Goodbye Yuff…I love you…" Reno choked, he then lay lifeless on the ground before Yuffie, the blood still leaking from his mouth and wound. Yuffie looked down at him in horror, she found something poking out of his pocket, it was a ring. She took the note from it. It said: _To Yuffie, will you marry me? Reno. _Yuffie gasped, tears spilling down her cheeks and on the ground.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god, oh GOD!" she shouted, she looked up at Godo, her eyes red and puffy.

"You worthless monster! Bastard of the earth! I hate you, you f**king king!" she shouted harshly, clutching the ring in her hands.

"It had to be done Yuffie! He could have killed you if the time had come!" said Godo angrily.

"HE'S CHANGED! FOR F**K'S SAKE! I TOLD YOU BUT YOU WOULDN'T LISTEN!" Yuffie yelled, getting up from the ground and facing Godo.

"A Turk will always be a Turk!" he answered shrilly.

"SHUT THE F**K UP!" she yelled, going over to her father and smacking him across the face, he looked shocked. Yuffie ran away from him, she kept running until she reached the bridge that her and Reno stood on, on their first date, she broke down in tears, her knees grazing against the edges of the bridge. She looked down at the water, her reflection appeared in it, then Reno's appeared beside it, she gasped, she looked beside her, but no one was there. It was just her imagination, she looked back at the water, her own reflection stood alone, she started crying, her life was tormented for the last time. Taking the ring from her pocket, Yuffie held it close to her. "I love you Reno…don't ever forget that…" she whispered.

Yuffie watched the ambulance lift Reno's lifeless body into the back of the van, a nurse came over to her.

"I'm sorry for your loss miss, there's nothing we can do for him…he died a painful death," she said, Yuffie nodded, tears appearing in her eyes again. She ran away from the scene, wanting to get away from the world, she hated Godo, hated him to hell.

A few days past and Yuffie had the test as promised, walking out of the doctors, Yuffie looked up at the clear blue sky. Losing Reno had affected a major part of her life, she smiled weakly, happily accepting that her result was indeed positive. She felt a pang in her heart, Rude and Elena, they don't even know about Reno's death, Yuffie bit her lip and shut her eyes tightly, it was gonna be hard to tell them what happened. She wouldn't be able to bear the looks on their faces, Yuffie decided it was best so she headed off towards the apartment, she knocked on the door and waited for them to answer. Elena opened the door, her face filled with cheerfulness, Yuffie wondered why she looked so happy.

"Hi Yuffie! Oh god I'm so happy! I've been going out with Rufus for sometime now ever since he admitted that he had secret feelings for me, today he just proposed to me! The wedding's in three weeks time! I so want you and Reno to come, you'll be such a cute couple together, and it'll be so romantic for you two!" said Elena happily, she looked a bit puzzled.

"Where's Reno?" she asked curiously.

"About that, I'll tell you later, right now I've got exciting news for you too!" said Yuffie, Elena squealed.

"Oooh! What?" she asked eagerly.

"I'm pregnant, I just got a test today and I was positive!" Yuffie responded.

"Oh my god! That's HUGE news! Congrats Yuffie! Oh god I bet Reno was happy!" said Elena cheerily.

"Yeah about Reno," said Yuffie sadly. Elena stopped jumping up and down, even Rude looked up from his newspaper, his face a confused expression.

"What about Reno?" he asked nervously, Yuffie breathed in, tears appearing in her eyes.

"Yuffie?" Elena asked her worriedly. Yuffie broke down in tears, falling into Elena's arms.

"Oh god Elena, I-he's…Reno's…" she began, tears running down her cheeks and staining Elena's shirt.

"Yes? Reno's…?" Elena asked, dieing with the suspense.

"Reno's dead!" Yuffie choked, Elena almost dropped Yuffie from her arms, Rude dropped his newspaper, his mouth hung open.

"Dead?" said Elena sadly, she started crying. "That can't be! He can't be dead!" she cried out.

"It's true, I dunno when the funeral is, but I've gotta talk to my friends, tell them the news, oh god I don't know how I'm gonna cope with this! It's so hard!" said Yuffie, crying.

"When did this happen?" Rude asked.

"A few days ago, Godo's soldiers came and f**king killed him right in front of me! For god's sake! I hate my father!" shouted Yuffie, punching her fist into her other hand.

"OH my god Yuffie! I'm so sorry! Oh god why did that bastard do that!" said Elena, sniffing, tears spilling down her cheeks. She cried forcefully. Rude looked miserable, but too serious to cry. Yuffie felt as if depression was written in capital letters across her forehead, she howled with despair, she couldn't bear the feeling. "Oh god dammit Elena, what am I going to do?" she asked her. Elena hushed her motherly, stroking Yuffie's hair, Yuffie smiled at Elena weakly, tears still shining in her eyes. Elena was like a second mother to Yuffie now, like Natasha.

"It's gonna hurt like hell Yuffie, all we can do now is be strong and try to move on," she said. Yuffie bit her lip.

"I wish there was a way of bringing him back, I miss him so much!" she cried, muffling into Yuffie's jumper. Elena nodded sympathetically, but Yuffie knew that she would never understand. Yuffie loved Reno so much, she hated the feeling of this depression eating at her.

"You can stay with us for a while?" Elena asked her, Yuffie looked at her, she was being so kind, but this is where Reno used to live. If Yuffie even had to glance at his bedroom door or even peek in the inside, she knew she would die with the breaking of her heart.

"It's kind of you, but I think I'll stay with Kairi, I can't bear stay here where Reno was, I just can't I'm sorry…" apologised Yuffie, Elena understood and nodded.

"Ok Yuff, I'll keep in touch 'kay? You'll be ok, I promise," said Elena, Yuffie smiled and said goodbye to Elena and Rude, she left the apartment, her depression lowering as she left. As she reached Kairi's house an hour later, she suddenly started to think, she wanted her life to be adventurous, that was a mistake, this is where it brought her, to a life of distress and despair, she wanted her life to be Anything but Ordinary, and that's exactly how it became, she looked up at the house, ready to break the news to Kairi and then tell the others in her free time, hopefully she'll recover from this state. And she knocked on the door, waiting for an answer.

**The End.**

**Note: I'm definetly doing a sequel to this story, I've already started writing it, so far I've written about 20 or 21 chapters and it's still not yet finished. I hope you enjoyed this fanfic! ^w^**


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